First Baptist Church Wiggins, FBC, 39577
Value all human life.
Zechariah 7:8-14 ESV
Every Sunday we sing about, talk about, and pray about the gospel.
The gospel reflects the value that the Lord places on all human life.
We as His people should value the life of every human being as well because our heavenly Father does.
We live in an age of darkness and death.
- We have been cultured to value darkness over the light and death over life.
- We need to heed the warnings from the Lord.
Zechariah was writing to the exiles in Persia, warning them about this very thing.
I. The Lord warns his people to do justice and show mercy to all. Vs 8-10
There are different people that God has mentioned:
“one another… the widow… the fatherless… the sojourner… the poor”
There is no hierarchy. The widow, the sojourner, the fatherless, the poor and all the rest of the people of God are one body of people.
They are all members of “one another” and are commanded to
- Treat everyone with fairness [render true judgments]
- Care for one another [show kindness and mercy]
- Do not hurt one another [do not oppress]
This is a command and there is no higher authority from which a command could be issued.
- This wasn’t a new command, but one that had been active since the beginning of time.
Genesis 9:5-6 ESV
Leviticus 19:13-18 ESV
Who is the “one another” of our day?
- Who is the widow… the fatherless… the sojourner… and the poor?
The "one another" is made up of all the souls alive on the earth today.
Including...
- The people living on oil well rd. And the people living in the red quarters of Wiggins.
- The people in Mississippi and the people in Washington State.
- The LGBTQ and the BLM and the Madi people in South Sudan.
- Muslims, protestant, Catholics, and Jews
- The physically and mentally handicapped.
- The physically and mentally well.
- The born and the unborn.
All are treated with mercy and kindness by God.
He makes the sun to rise of the just and the unjust.
And every single one of them who would turn from their sin and fall into His grace would be saved, redeemed, regenerated, sanctified and eventually glorified.
We have no right to be unfair.
We are in no position to stand over anyone as if we are better than them.
All human beings are precious to God.
Even among the people of God there is a disregard for the value of human beings.
II. The Lord warns His people to heed the voice of His prophets. 11-12
They refused to respond to the command of God to love their neighbor and value one another.
- They ignored him and refused to pay attention.
- They “turned a stubborn shoulder” rather than speak out against injustice.
- They plugged up their ears and pretended that they didn’t hear the voice of God nor the voice of the oppressed crying out.
- They made their hearts “diamond-hard” lest the should hear the law and the words of the Lord of Hosts.
We, the people of God, are inclined to hear no evil, speak no evil, and see no evil.
- We do not want to hear injustices spoken of.
- We won’t look in the eye of a poor person
- We do not want to see the pictures of the unborn who are murdered
- We don’t want to see it because then our hearts would be broken.
We turn our stubborn shoulder to the one who is different than us… who believes different than us… who struggle with a different sin than us…. Because we don’t feel like they deserve our affection and care.
We put armor around our hearts and they grow diamond hard.
- Media desensitizes our hearts and we grow colder and deader everyday.
This is the world we live in and there are serious serious consequences.
III. The Lord warns His people of the consequences of not heeding the warnings. 12b-14
There are 4 consequences of injustice and oppression and a lack of value for human life…
1. The Lord is angry (12b)
2. The Lord will not hear their prayers (13a)
3. The insolent ones are scattered. (13b)
4. Their land is made desolate. (14) )
It wasn't only because of their lack of reverence for God and the fact that they betrayed Him and began to worship other Gods but that they were judged because of the lack of love they had for their neighbors.
- For this reason, the Lord’s anger was kindled against them and the oppressors became the oppressed. He made their land a desolation.
The person is a fool who thinks this only applies to ancient times
God’s heart still burns for the least of all people…. The outcast…. The downtrodden.
- And while he has shown great grace and mercy He still defends the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, and the poor.
We might turn a stubborn shoulder, a blind eye and we might stop our ears and harden our hearts
But God has not.
- His heart breaks for the widow.
- He values the orphan.
- He opens His hand wide to the poor.
- His Kingdom is wide open to receive any sojourner with grace.
- His wrath burns hot at all who would oppress the least of these with injustice, and evil schemes.
If we will not hear them
If we will not plead their cause
If we will not open our hearts
If we refuse to receive them with grace, then...
- The oppressors will become the oppressed.
For a moment remove the armor from our hearts and allow His word to chip off the rough edges.
- May we allow Him to use us to show His love for all human beings.
May the love of God be made manifest in us that the lost and dying world might call out to Him for mercy and provision.
If anyone feels like the least of all human beings… like a sinner… a poor widow, orphan, or sojourner… you can rest assured that the Lord hears your prayers.
- Call out to Him in faith and receive His spiritual provision.