Introduction:
Matthew 24:12 - And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
4 Things Complacent People Say (Zephaniah 1:1-2:3):
- I'm not that Bad .
- I'm Self-Rreliant .
- I'm comfortable in the Culture .
- I'm satisfied with Shallow .
How Do I Wake Up from My Complacency?
- Get Hungry .
- Get Honest .
- Get Humble .
1 Peter 4:17 - For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God...
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:00-00:27
Zephaniah chapter 1, it says, "The word of the Lord that came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amoriah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Ammon, king of Judah." So we're looking about 740 to 730 BC, and after Manasseh had led Israel into idolatry And human sacrifice.
00:27-00:29
That's 2 Chronicles 33.
00:30-00:33
King Josiah came along and he made a bunch of reforms.
00:34-00:36
2 Chronicles 34.
00:36-00:44
You know how you can have the leader of a country do a bunch of stuff and then the next leader comes and undoes everything the previous leader does?
00:44-00:44
Can you imagine that?
00:45-00:47
That's exactly what was happening here.
00:48-01:04
Well, Zephaniah was likely written to Judah just prior to the reforms that Josiah installed, but it was too late because Zephaniah is one of the last prophets before the nation fell to Babylon.
01:05-01:09
Zephaniah has one theme, and it's the theme we're going to be talking about for the next three weeks.
01:09-01:10
One theme.
01:10-01:18
A theme that you should be so aware of and studying and praying over.
01:19-01:20
The theme is the day of the Lord.
01:20-01:30
This is a theme throughout the Old Testament prophets, But Zephaniah, it's not just one thing he's talking about, it is THE thing he's talking about.
01:31-01:32
What is the Day of the Lord?
01:32-01:33
It's just simply this.
01:33-01:37
It's when God shows up to bring judgment and wrath.
01:38-01:41
There's a day coming when God says, "That's it.
01:43-01:52
I'm showing up to pour out my judgment." You know, God has a calendar on his wall, and there's one day circled on his calendar, and it's called the Day of the Lord.
01:53-01:58
Zephaniah is warning Judah here, your time's almost up.
01:58-02:06
And you see, to understand Old Testament prophecy, there would be a near fulfillment and a far fulfillment.
02:06-02:07
Right?
02:07-02:13
So, in the life of Judah here, the coming invasion of Babylon was the near fulfillment.
02:14-02:18
There was Zephaniah saying, hey, punishment's coming for your sin.
02:18-02:26
But through this prophecy, this invasion from Babylon foreshadowing the final and upcoming day of the Lord.
02:27-02:28
And you're like, well, when is that going to be?
02:29-02:30
It's coming very soon.
02:30-02:31
Very soon.
02:32-02:33
Look at verses 2 and 3.
02:33-02:39
He says, "I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth," declares the Lord.
02:39-02:42
"I will sweep away man and beast.
02:42-02:47
I will sweep away the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea and the rubble with the wicked.
02:47-02:51
I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth," declares the Lord.
02:52-02:54
Judgment is coming on the whole earth.
02:54-02:54
Okay?
02:55-03:00
Judgment was coming to Judah here, but long fulfillment.
03:00-03:02
He says there's a day coming.
03:02-03:03
Whole earth.
03:04-03:04
It's coming.
03:05-03:07
We talked about that when we went through Revelation.
03:07-03:10
The sermons are all on the website if you want to review.
03:10-03:11
You're like, when's it coming?
03:11-03:14
Well, according to God's Word, according to Jesus Himself, it's coming soon.
03:15-03:16
Look at v. 4.
03:16-03:21
Because now the attention focuses on Judah and the immediate judgment.
03:22-03:51
"I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal and the name of the idolatrous priests, along with the priests, those who bow down on the roofs to the hosts of heaven, those who bow down and swear to the Lord, and yet swear by Malcolm." He's talking about idolatry. What's the matter with you? You say you belong to the Lord, and you're also worshipping others.
03:51-03:52
What's the matter with you?
03:53-04:01
He says, "Those who have turned back from following the Lord, who do not seek the Lord, or inquire of Him, be silent before the Lord God.
04:01-04:02
For the day of the Lord is near.
04:03-04:06
The Lord has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated His guests.
04:07-04:16
And on the day of the Lord's sacrifice, I will punish the officials and the king's sons, and all who array themselves in foreign attire.
04:16-04:34
On that day, I will punish everyone who leaps over the threshold, and those who fill their Master's house with violence and fraud." He says, Judah, because of your idolatry, because of your moral corruption - see in this picture here, Judah is referred to as a sacrifice.
04:35-04:40
And Babylon is both the guests and the priests offering the sacrifice.
04:41-04:43
And what's God's exhortation here?
04:43-04:46
He says, "Be silent." In other words, no excuses can be made.
04:47-04:51
What excuse would you offer that would change the mind of the Lord?
04:52-04:58
What justification do you have for turning your back on God and worshiping other things?
04:59-05:00
Explain yourself.
05:00-05:02
He says, "No, don't explain yourself.
05:02-05:08
"Please just be silent." Instead, what you need to do is wail because it's going to be devastating.
05:09-05:09
Look at verse 10.
05:10-05:17
"On that day, declares the Lord, "a cry will be heard from the fish gate, "a wail from the second quarter, a loud crash from the hills.
05:17-05:22
"Wail, O inhabitants of the mortar, for all the traders are no more.
05:22-05:24
All who wail silver are cut off.
05:24-05:30
At that time, I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent.
05:31-05:35
Those who say in their hearts, the Lord will not do good, nor will He do ill.
05:35-05:38
Their goods shall be plundered, and their houses laid waste.
05:39-05:41
Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them.
05:42-05:45
Though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them.
05:45-05:49
"The great day of the Lord is near, "near and hastening fast.
05:49-05:52
"The sound of the day of the Lord is bitter.
05:52-05:54
"The mighty man cries aloud there.
05:55-06:14
"The day of wrath is that day, "a day of distress and anguish, "a day of ruin and devastation, "a day of darkness and gloom, "a day of clouds and thick darkness, "a day of trumpet blast and battle cry "against the fortified cities "and against the lofty battlements." You're like, whoa, whoa.
06:15-06:24
All right, Jeff, listen, I get the Old Testament stuff here, Jeff, but you know, I'm a Christian and I live under the new covenant.
06:24-06:30
And you know, Jeff, God is a God of love and this Old Testament stuff, it's not really for us.
06:30-06:35
And I would say you are completely wrong and you completely don't understand.
06:36-06:37
Like, but I thought God was a God of love.
06:37-06:38
Oh, absolutely He is.
06:39-06:40
God is a God of love.
06:40-06:46
And when you truly love someone, You hate everything that injures that person.
06:46-06:51
And I can speak to this as a parent because you know the health problems that my son has.
06:51-06:54
And I couldn't possibly love my son any more than I do.
06:55-06:59
And because of the love that I have for him, I hate what this disease does to him.
06:59-07:00
I hate it.
07:01-07:07
And I've told you before on that day, may the Lord grant me the grace to kick it straight into the lake of fire.
07:07-07:11
I hate what it does to him because I love him so much.
07:11-07:13
Now imagine this on a global scale.
07:13-07:20
God's people being afflicted and surrounded by sin and idolatry and filled.
07:20-07:25
And God loves His people so much and He sees what all of these things are doing to His people.
07:26-07:27
Do you think it fires them up?
07:28-07:33
God sent His Son to die for all who would receive Him.
07:33-07:42
And when His Son is rejected, and when His Son is mocked, and people persist in sin while God extends His grace, what's God to do?
07:43-07:55
Tell me, those of you who think God's wrath is a harsh doctrine, I want you to tell me what should God do when He sees all of this wickedness and all of this abuse and all this idolatry?
07:56-07:58
And what should He do?
07:59-08:00
Oh, that's okay.
08:01-08:02
They can all come to heaven anyways.
08:04-08:04
What should He do?
08:05-08:07
Is the Lord not justified in His judgment?
08:07-08:08
Look at verse 17.
08:09-08:12
God says, "I will bring distress on mankind so that they shall walk like the blind.
08:13-08:19
Because they have sinned against the Lord, their blood shall be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung.
08:20-08:28
Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the Lord and the fire of his jealousy.
08:28-08:39
All the earth shall be consumed for a full and sudden end He will make of all the inhabitants of the earth." Notice God says He's bringing distress and people are going to walk like the blind.
08:40-08:46
Gosh, can you imagine what it would look like globally when people all over the world are walking like the blind?
08:46-08:48
Can you imagine what that would look like?
08:48-08:50
You don't have to imagine what that would look like.
08:50-08:51
Just turn on your television.
08:52-08:54
You're watching it happen in real time.
08:54-09:00
What you're seeing, church, is the ball is being placed on the tee to kick off the tribulation.
09:01-09:02
It's all moving there.
09:02-09:03
Have you not been paying attention?
09:04-09:09
One world economy, vaccine passports, persecution of the church, the attacks on Israel.
09:10-09:11
What's it all mean?
09:12-09:14
It means the tribulation is right around the corner.
09:15-09:26
Between pandemic and politics and all these social justice issues, we're seeing right now globally an unprecedented level of blindness.
09:27-09:28
It's staggering.
09:28-09:34
But you know what's even more staggering than that is the fact that God still calls His people to repent.
09:35-10:15
2. God says, "Gather together, yes, gather, O shameless nation, before the decree takes effect, before the day passes away like chaff, before there comes upon you the burning anger of the Lord, before there comes upon you the day of the anger of the Lord. Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land who do as just commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility, perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord." God still calls His people You know, something that stuck out to me here, in verse two, the Lord used the word, he uses the same word four times, the word before.
10:16-10:16
You know what that means?
10:17-10:20
It means that God isn't promising that he's canceling the coming judgment.
10:21-10:33
Because you know, sometimes you see in scripture that God's like, "Hey, I'm going to judge, "but if you repent, I'll relent." And he's saying when it comes to the day of the Lord, the day that we're about to see come here, that's not an option here.
10:33-10:35
God's not saying, "You know what?
10:35-10:40
"If you repent, I'm just gonna cross that day "off my calendar." He says, "No, no, no, it's coming.
10:40-10:42
"The day of the Lord is coming.
10:43-10:44
"Nothing's going to change that.
10:44-10:53
"So if you're sitting here thinking, "or if you're watching this stream thinking, "well, I'm gonna start behaving myself "and telling others to do the same, "and perhaps this stuff won't happen." No, it's coming.
10:54-10:56
The question is, when is it coming?
10:57-10:58
We don't know, but God does.
10:59-11:02
And God wants to rescue people before the day does come.
11:02-11:05
And church, I think this absolutely has to direct our prayers for America.
11:06-11:07
How should we be praying?
11:07-11:14
We should be praying for as many people as possible to be snatched out of the fire because this day is coming.
11:15-11:16
Now we read a chunk here, didn't we?
11:18-11:24
And as we went through all of these concepts, I would ask you, do any of these things sound familiar to you?
11:24-11:25
Quick review.
11:25-11:27
Let's just see if any of these things sound familiar.
11:27-11:29
In verse 8, he talked about corrupt leadership.
11:29-11:30
Does that sound familiar at all?
11:31-11:33
In verse 5, child sacrifice.
11:35-11:36
That's tied into idolatry.
11:37-11:39
You know church, that's what modern day abortion is.
11:41-11:47
If you think it's simply, I don't want the inconvenience of raising a child, so I'm going to get rid of the child.
11:47-11:49
Abortion is so much deeper than that.
11:50-11:51
You study your Old Testament.
11:51-11:59
The way that you worshipped demonic powered idols was to kill your children.
12:00-12:02
That's what modern day abortion is.
12:02-12:03
It's child sacrifice.
12:04-12:05
That's what it is.
12:06-12:08
Why are people so hell-bent on keeping it?
12:09-12:09
Because it's their worship.
12:10-12:12
Idolatry. We've talked about that.
12:12-12:14
Corrupt priests in v. 4.
12:15-12:20
The people that should be leading God's people are just as corrupt as the world.
12:20-12:21
Are we seeing that at all?
12:22-12:24
People secure in their wealth - v. 18.
12:24-12:26
The violence and fraud - v. 9.
12:27-12:33
Living in a nation that's described - A nation that's described as having no shame.
12:34-12:37
And all the while, people are just completely blind to what's happening.
12:38-12:41
Now do you understand why we're talking about Zephaniah for a couple weeks?
12:42-12:42
Do you get it?
12:43-12:44
This is where we are.
12:45-12:48
We're watching these things be fulfilled in front of us.
12:48-12:54
The moral and idolatrous decay of our culture that precedes the ultimate day of the Lord.
12:54-12:59
But none of these things that I mentioned, this little list here, none of these things are really the biggest problem.
12:59-13:01
Because today I just want to talk about one verse.
13:02-13:05
The biggest problem facing God's people.
13:05-13:06
Look back at verse 12.
13:07-13:16
God says, "At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps." It's the picture of somebody like they lost something on the ground in the carpet and they're with a flashlight looking.
13:16-13:21
God's like, "I'm going to be looking "through Jerusalem like this." Why, what's going on God?
13:21-13:24
He says, "I will punish the men who are complacent.
13:25-13:30
"Those who say in their hearts, the Lord will not do good, nor will He do ill." You see the problem?
13:31-13:34
You see the problem of God's people in this day?
13:34-13:36
It's the same problem with God's people today.
13:37-13:38
It's complacency.
13:38-13:39
Do you care?
13:39-13:40
Do you care?
13:41-13:49
Do you notice it says, "They say it in their hearts." They say it in their hearts, meaning it's not just something they speak or post on social media.
13:49-13:52
It's something that they believe deep down inside themselves.
13:52-13:53
This is an inward belief.
13:53-13:55
What is the sin we're believed that they embrace?
13:56-13:58
The Lord will not do good, nor will he do ill.
13:59-14:00
You see what they say?
14:00-14:01
They're like, God's uninvolved.
14:02-14:03
God's uninvolved.
14:04-14:06
I mean, yeah, things are pretty rough right now.
14:07-14:08
We can all agree to that, right?
14:09-14:11
But it's not like God's going to do anything about it.
14:12-14:15
I mean, there's not going to be revival, and there's not going to be judgment.
14:16-14:20
Things just are as they are, and that's just the way it is.
14:21-14:22
God is not involved.
14:23-14:24
He's not involved.
14:24-14:26
Look, let's just be honest, right?
14:26-14:28
I mean, life just ebbs and flows, right?
14:29-14:33
The economy, the economy's good, and then the economy's bad.
14:34-14:37
And gas prices go up, and gas prices go down.
14:38-14:44
And we get a Democrat in the White House, and then a Republican, and then a Democrat, and then a Republican.
14:44-14:45
Do you see?
14:46-14:50
It gets better, it gets worse, and nothing really matters.
14:51-14:58
And the problem with Israel and with the church today is your indifference makes you start to think that God is indifferent.
14:59-15:02
You become complacent and you regard the Lord as the same.
15:03-15:07
He will not do good and He will not do ill.
15:07-15:08
Do you care?
15:09-15:24
I mean, God can save and God will save and God will revive His church and God's people can see God move through them see God do amazing things through them, but there's a roadblock, church.
15:25-15:33
The roadblock in Zephaniah's day and in our day that's stripping us of our spiritual vitality is this complacency.
15:34-15:36
You know, Jesus talked about this complacency.
15:37-15:43
In Matthew 24, Jesus was talking about end of the world stuff, the stuff that's just about to happen here very soon.
15:43-15:54
The disciples were asking Jesus, "What are the signs of this?" Jesus said a lot of things, but there's one phrase that just really sticks out, especially in the light of our cultural landscape now.
15:54-15:58
In Matthew 24, 12, look at how Jesus described the end of the age.
15:59-16:06
He says, "And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold." Have you noticed the increase in lawlessness?
16:07-16:20
And there's something in us that wants to say, "Oh, when lawlessness increases, that's going to fire God's people up and people are going to be even more passionate." And he says, "No." He says, "For a lot of people, their love's just going to cool off.
16:20-16:22
They're not going to be fired up for anything.
16:23-16:25
It's living in a state of despondency.
16:26-16:28
The Lord will not do good, nor will He do evil.
16:30-16:34
Do you care?" "Well, I do now." "So what should we do, Jeff?
16:34-16:34
What should we do?
16:34-16:35
What should we do?
16:35-16:38
What should we do?" "I know, let's storm the Capitol building.
16:39-16:41
Let's go burn down some abortion clinics.
16:41-16:50
Oh, oh, I know, Let's be keyboard warriors on social media and post the most shade-throwing memes that we can.
16:50-16:52
I don't see any of that here.
16:53-16:59
But God is calling you to do the one thing that you and only you have absolutely total control over.
17:00-17:01
He wants you to care.
17:02-17:03
Stop being so complacent.
17:04-17:05
Do you care?
17:05-17:09
That's what I want to ask you, church, individuals.
17:10-17:12
Are you a complacent person?
17:12-17:15
Are you spiritually complacent right now?
17:16-17:20
And you're like, "Nah, man, you know I think I'm good, man.
17:20-17:28
I think I'm good." That's your reply, then you're probably not good.
17:29-17:30
Are you spiritually complacent?
17:30-17:32
There's no real seeking the Lord.
17:33-17:35
There's no great love for God.
17:35-17:38
And there's no real hatred for sin either.
17:39-17:41
And I don't just mean the sin of the culture, I mean your own sin.
17:42-17:42
Do you care?
17:43-17:44
Like, hang on a second, Jeb.
17:44-17:51
Okay, look, I'm saved by grace and you've told me so many times my salvation is not about my performance.
17:52-17:53
Okay, I sin, who doesn't?
17:54-17:56
I received Jesus, that's all that matters, right?
17:57-17:58
That's complacency.
17:58-18:13
And one of the big problems with complacency is that complacency doesn't feel like that big of a sin because complacency doesn't feel like a sin because complacency doesn't feel like much of anything.
18:13-18:14
Do you care?
18:15-18:16
What's complacency feel like?
18:16-18:17
Not much of anything.
18:17-18:18
What's it look like?
18:18-18:19
I'll tell you what it looks like.
18:19-18:27
It looks like you wake up one day and you realize you haven't picked up your Bible since, when was the last time we were at church?
18:27-18:29
But I haven't picked it up at home.
18:29-18:31
I mean, that's complacency.
18:32-18:33
You haven't been praying.
18:34-18:35
You haven't fasted.
18:36-18:37
You haven't considered God's will.
18:38-19:00
That you just wake up one day and you're like, "Yeah, it's been a long time since I've been real serious "about walking with Jesus." And if you're gonna be completely honest, your walk with Christ seems more like this long distance relationship than the way the Bible describes it as His Spirit indwelling you and empowering you and changing you and using you.
19:00-19:01
It doesn't feel like that.
19:01-19:09
No, no, no, it feels like Jesus is an old friend that lives far away and I'm sure I could call him if I need him.
19:09-19:10
Does any of this resonate?
19:11-19:11
Do you care?
19:12-19:17
I mean, you don't think much about Jesus returning, you know, the coming day of the Lord.
19:18-19:28
So you don't think very much about bearing fruit in keeping with repentance, because complacency makes your spiritual life passive, not active.
19:28-19:33
And when you come to church, the reality is you're more of a spectator than a worshiper.
19:33-19:38
You're more watching what's happening here than being involved with what's happening here.
19:39-19:39
Do you care?
19:40-19:41
Are you complacent?
19:42-19:44
Well, quickly, here's four things complacent people say.
19:45-19:48
If you're still not convinced, we're gonna take a run at this.
19:48-19:50
Four things complacent people say.
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Number one, I'm not that bad.
19:52-19:59
You're like, oh yeah, Jeff, I see these rioters and these parade people on TV, and look, I'm not that bad.
19:59-20:02
You know, save your fire and brimstone for those people, Jack.
20:03-20:04
I'm not that bad.
20:04-20:06
Well, you know where that high view of self comes from?
20:07-20:08
It comes from comparing yourself with others.
20:09-20:10
God doesn't do that.
20:11-20:19
And there's a huge danger when God's people, church, there's a huge danger when we're not focused on Jesus, but we're focused on morality.
20:20-20:20
Huge danger.
20:21-20:21
Why?
20:22-20:25
Because when you focus on morality, that goes one of two ways.
20:25-20:35
That either leads to shame, like I'm no good, I stink, I'm a horrible person, I'm a terrible sinner, and I'm kind of talking like Donald Trump when I say this.
20:35-20:48
Like, there's shame, but the other danger of comparing yourself with others, focusing on morality, not focused on Jesus, the other danger is self-righteousness, right?
20:49-20:53
Because when you compare yourself with others, you're always gonna find somebody worse than you, always.
20:53-20:57
And then you're gonna feel self-righteous, like, yeah, you know what, I'm bad, but I'm not as bad as this guy right here.
20:58-21:04
I mean, yeah, I make mistakes, but Jesus had quite a bit to say about that kind of thinking, didn't he?
21:05-21:07
But that's what complacent people say.
21:07-21:10
Complacent people say, number two, I'm self-reliant.
21:10-21:12
I can handle whatever's coming.
21:12-21:13
I got this, I can do it.
21:14-21:15
You're self-sufficient.
21:16-21:16
Because you know what?
21:16-21:18
The world can burn.
21:18-21:19
You don't need them.
21:20-21:25
I mean, you know you need Jesus to get to heaven, but you live like you don't really need him now.
21:26-21:27
Because here's what you've done.
21:27-21:32
You've learned how to manage your life on your own terms.
21:32-21:34
And do you know what God calls that?
21:35-21:36
Complacency.
21:37-21:38
Three things complacent people say.
21:38-21:40
Number three, I'm comfortable in the culture.
21:40-21:42
I'm comfortable in the culture.
21:42-21:44
I'm comfortable in the culture.
21:45-21:48
Look, you know, right now, look, I'm gonna be honest with you.
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I'm fine with all these perversions.
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They don't really bother me.
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The transgenders, the LGBTQ, whatever those letters are.
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Look, it's Pride Month.
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And I just want everybody in that culture to know I'm on your side.
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I'm an ally.
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on a safe space.
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God help us.
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We should be grieved over sin and we celebrate it.
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God's people who should be more grieved than anyone over sin, gotta make sure we put on our rainbow profile picture on social media and let them know, I'm your ally.
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What you should be letting them know is, look, God loves you and I care about you, but this is wrong.
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The complacency is just being comfortable with all this.
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You drive by the church up the street that's got the giant rainbow flag, and you're like, "Good for them, good for them." You're complacent because you're not grieving over the things that not only grieves the heart of God, but brings the judgment of God.
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Another danger of being comfortable with the culture and another sign that you are is when you think politically, not spiritually, right?
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And that's where we are today.
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It's all about my political party, my candidate, my political philosophy, and you're more invested in politics than you are prophecy.
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and you're more concerned about what Biden is doing than what Jesus Christ is doing.
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And when that's the case, you're like, I'm comfortable in the culture.
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You're complacent is what you are.
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Dress it up any way you want, but let's call it what God calls it.
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You're complacent.
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Number four, four things complacent people say is I'm satisfied with shallow.
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I'm satisfied with shallow.
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Shallow prayer.
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You know, I throw up a quick one, you know, before bed or throw up a quick God bless grandma thing.
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And when was the last time you were on your face before the Lord privately crying out to him?
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When was the last time that happened?
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You're like, it's been a long time.
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And do you know why it's been a long time?
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Is because you're content with shallow prayer.
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You're complacent, satisfied with shallow church attendance.
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Church attendance, if literally nothing else is going on.
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If literally nothing else is going on, I go to church.
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but I'm skipping church this morning because I think I have like a great uncle who passed away on this day back in 1956.
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I'm gonna stay home and honor him.
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We're having a picnic for him.
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Yeah, look, whatever.
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When you're looking for an excuse, any excuse will do.
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But you're like, look, just what's the bare minimum for following Jesus?
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Pastor, give me the bare minimum package.
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That's the one I wanna sign up for.
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How can I follow Jesus and squeak into heaven with like as little inconvenience and feather ruffling here on the earth?
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Because that's what I want.
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Do you know why you want something like that?
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Because you're complacent.
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By the way, God doesn't offer that for the record.
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You're like, all right, how do I wake up from my complacency?
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How do I wake up from it?
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That's the real question, right?
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I'm just gonna leave you with three things.
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and I know it has been a long and fruitful and spiritually exhausting morning.
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Can you handle three more things?
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Can you?
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Okay.
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All right.
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How do I wake up?
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And look, I knew at this stretch, make it easy, I alliterated it for you, all right?
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Three points alliteration, like the good Baptist that I am.
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All right.
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How do I wake up?
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First of all, I'll get honest.
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Get honest.
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What I mean is get honest with God.
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And what I mean is stop saying your prayers and start praying, not just prayer on the go, not just prayer here and there, not just prayer in the car, please hear me.
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Yes, that, but not just that.
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If you're one of those pray on the go type of people, that's awesome because the Bible says that 1 Thessalonians 5:17, pray without ceasing, you should.
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But you know what else the Bible says?
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Jesus said the secret to prayer is prayer in secret, Matthew chapter six.
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Jesus said get alone, get private, That's when you know your prayer is real.
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Shut the door.
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Get on your face because your posture matters.
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But you need to carve out time when you can be intentional, alone and undistracted, on your face getting real with God.
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And if you're struggling with complacency, you need to confess that before the Lord.
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Say, you know what, God, I've been so complacent.
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I haven't been seeking you like I should, God.
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What's the matter with me, God?
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Please, by the power of your spirit, light a fire in me.
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Be honest with God and see what He does with that.
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Because if you wanna be woken up from your complacency, God wants it for you even more than you want it for you.
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So letter B, get honest, letter B, get hungry.
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Get hungry.
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I would encourage you, church, enter a season of fasting.
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You know, fasting is one of the greatest tools that God has given us.
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And He has given us this tool for exactly this.
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You know why God's given us fasting?
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is because we have so much in our lives that just distract us.
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And all these things distract us and pull our attention and feed our appetites.
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And you only have the capacity to receive so much of this stuff.
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And fasting is a way of saying, I'm removing all of these distractions for the sole purpose of focusing on my walk with Jesus Christ.
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I'm going to stop eating for a while.
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I'm going to stop watching TV or playing video games or you're messing around on social media, or whatever it is, but fasting removes the distraction so you can intensely and intentionally focus on your walk.
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We have sermons on our website about fasting.
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You can find them, and I would just say listen and do it.
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Get hungry.
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You're not hungry for God because you're not hungry for anything.
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You know why you're not hungry for anything?
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Because you've stuffed yourself with everything, and now you're complacent.
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Get hungry.
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Finally, I want to leave you with where God left us here in this passage, get humble.
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Do you see that he says it a couple of times at the beginning of chapter two, seek the Lord, all you humble of the land.
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Verse three, later on he says, seek humility, humble yourself.
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Listen, when we, the Bible says humble yourself, that's a command over and over.
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The Bible says, humble yourself.
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And I think sometimes people think it's like a passive command.
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"Okay, I'm going to start thinking differently." And yes, obedience always starts with your thinking, but some people think that's where it ends, especially with humility.
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But humbling yourself is a command that you actively pursue.
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And the best place where you start is in small group accountability.
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That's where you start.
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Why do we start there?
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Because complacent people don't get involved.
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Complacent people don't get actively involved with fired up Christians, because that's convicting.
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But church, we are going to be multiplying our small groups because every one of them, it seems, are either full or overflowing.
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So we're working on multiplying and getting new leaders installed and trained and working.
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It's a work in progress.
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But I just need to tell you, if you're not going to small group, you need to get there.
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And if you are going, get involved.
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Don't just sit in the corner and stuff your face with cookies.
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Get involved.
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Tell them where you're struggling.
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Tell them what you need prayer for.
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Tell them where you're hurting.
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That is an active way where you can humble yourself in a community of God's people.
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Do you care?
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I'd like to invite the worship team to come forward, please.
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While they do, you know, we're looking at this passage and you can say, you know, Israel's neighbors were doing a lot of horrible sin.
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So why did God go after Judah so hard, right?
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Why did God go after Judah so hard?
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I mean Israel's neighbors were worse.
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Well, it's the same reason that I'm preaching this sermon to you here, and I'm not up preaching this at Starbucks or down at Ross Park Mall.
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It's for this simple reason, 1 Peter 4.17.
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Look at this.
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For it is time for judgment to begin where?
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The household of God.
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And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
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Church, to whom much is given, much is required.
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God's people are first and foremost accountable.
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We should know better.
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Lost people are going to act like lost people.
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And yes, we need to reach them with the gospel, but it has to start here.
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Do you care?
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Let's pray.
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Father in heaven, I pray by the power of your spirit that you would wake us up, Because God, the day of the Lord is near.
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And maybe we've just overly distracted ourselves so that we don't have to think about it.
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Maybe it's just easier to be consumed with other things so we don't have to think very hard about the day of the Lord.
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Father, it's coming.
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And I just pray today simply, Father, for my brothers and sisters here and those watching, those listening later.
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She would shake us of our complacency.
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His reality is when Judah said, "The Lord will not do good, nor will He do ill." The reality is, God, You're coming to do both, to bring the ultimate blessing, but also to bring the ultimate punishment.
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Wake us up.
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Please, God, wake us up.
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We have such a short amount of time.
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Let us use it in service to the coming King.
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We pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read Zephaniah 1:1-2:3
What was your big “take-away” from this passage / message?
Read Zephaniah 1:12. What do you think makes people complacent? What does that process look like?
What are some ways you see people “walking like the blind” today (Zephaniah 1:17)?
How is God's jealousy connected to His wrath (Zephaniah 1:18)?
Breakout
Pray for one another.
