The Lord is
"righteous" (Zephaniah 3:5). His people are "rebellious" (Zephaniah
3:1). The people were not served well by their "prophets" and "priests"
(Zephaniah 3:4). Could this situation be turned around? Could the people
be led back from rebellion to righteousness? From the human side, there
is no returning to the Lord. The human side is not all that there is.
There is God - and He refuses to give up on His people: "Then I will
give all people pure lips to worship the Lord and to serve Him with one
purpose" (Zephaniah 3:9). To His people, God says, "I will remove your
arrogance" (Zephaniah 3:11). Rebellious people can be changed by God's
saving grace. How many will return to the Lord? - God speaks about "a
faithful few" (Zephaniah 3:12-13). "They will seek refuge in the Name of
the Lord" (Zephaniah 3:12). Any good thing in us has come from the
Lord, When we consider all that the Lord has done for us, we are to
worship Him - "Sing happily, people of Zion... " (Zephaniah 3:14). What
reasons do we have for singing praise to the Lord? - "The Lord has
reversed the judgments against you. He has forced out your enemies. The
King of Israel, the Lord, is with you" (Zephaniah 3:15). We rejoice in
the Lord, and He takes delight in us - "He... celebrates over you with
shouts of joy" (Zephaniah 3:17).
"The Son of Man came to save the lost" (Matthew 18:11). In Matthew 18:12-13, Jesus speaks about sheep. He's really speaking about us. He is the Shepherd. We are His sheep. Sheep wander away from the shepherd. We wander away from the Lord. The shepherd looks for the lost sheep. Jesus has come to seek for us and find us. He brings us home to God, our Father. Through His saving grace, we receive new life - a life in which we rejoice in our great Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. He delivers us from the condemnation, which our sin has brought upon us. He brings us into the knowledge of His forgiveness. This Gospel of salvation changes us. It teaches us to live in the power of God's love. Jesus speaks about "the Kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 19:12,23), "the Kingdom of God" (Matthew 19:14,24) and "eternal life" (Matthew 19:29). Jesus' way of thinking and living is so very different from the world's way of thinking and living. He chall...
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