Monday Morning Coffee with Mark

Daily Bible Reading, Week 40

October 03, 2022 Mark Roberts
Monday Morning Coffee with Mark
Daily Bible Reading, Week 40
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Welcome to the Westside church’s special Monday Morning Coffee podcast with Mark Roberts. Mark is a disciple, a husband, father and grand dad, as well as a certified coffee geek, fan of CS Lewis’ writings and he loves his big red Jeep. He’s also the preacher for Westside church.

Speaker 1:

Hello, and welcome to the Westside churches special Monday Morning Coffee podcast on this podcast, our preacher Mark Roberts will help you get your week started right. With look back at yesterday's sermon so that we can think through it further and better work the applications into our daily lives. Mark will then look forward into this week's Bible reading so that we can know what to expect and watch for. And, he may have some extra bonus thoughts from time to time. So grab a cup of coffee as we start the week together on Monday Morning Coffee with Mark.

Speaker 3:

Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to the Monday Morning Coffee podcast for Monday, October the third. Can you believe it is October? I'm Mark. I have a great cup of coffee and I have my Bible open to Acts chapter 28. What I don't have is sermon notes. There's not gonna be a sermon interview today because, because, because, because I did not preach at West Side yesterday. In fact, I am in Louisville, Kentucky in a Sunday to Wednesday gospel meeting with the Eastland congregation. But that doesn't mean I'm not thinking about daily Bible reading and I'm ready to think about Acts chapter 28 and a whole new book of the New Testament with you. Let's get started. Today in Bible reading, we read Acts chapter 28 versus one to 10. And whether it is feeling fallish wherever you are, it feels pretty fallish in Acts chapter 28. This is cold and wet and rainy. This is probably December, maybe not October, but everybody would be shivering here because they've been washed up on the beach and it's just a chilly day. People would be cold and wanting a fire. And Paul goes to work on that here on the island of Malta. Malta is a small island about 20 miles long and 12 miles wide. It is about 58 miles from Ly. And the island did have a fair amount of local autonomy. And I think what we see here is these kind natives, verse two, showing the providence of God because this narrative, this story is really about God bringing Paul to Rome as he has promised. And I do like how Paul is always practical and helpful. He's gathering firewood in verse three, and then we get peril and escape. That's been a big theme in the book of Acts. Things go well and then the bottom drops out because there's some kind of terrible danger. And here there is a snake. And the obvious conclusion to that is that this is what Paul had coming to him, that somehow justice, which is here, the goddess decay, and that is actually capitalized in the V as justice. And that is correct because they are recognizing this as a idle God or a foreign God. It would be a God foreign DePaul at least. And so here the idea is she will not let him get away. But once again, Luke shows the gospel and Christianity the true God overcoming and winning over all kinds of false gods. And that of course is exactly what happens here. So Paul doesn't drop dead from the snake. And I have to say here, I'm not a big fan of snakes, was recently visiting my daughter and they had a snake on the back patio and that was not a good thing at all, especially because I'm not certain that I can pull off what Paul pulls off here, but Paul continues even when he is a prisoner to be a, an amazing ambassador for the gospel. And so he heals a man. Verse eight, This is probably mal fever, that's a fever that came from a microorganism in Mals goat milk that was finally discovered in 1887. And that fever could last four months or even longer. And here, Paul heals that. And then on they go, there's nothing here about establishing a church. There's nothing here about preaching the gospel because that's not what Luke is focusing on. Luke is focusing, focusing us very tightly on getting to Rome, on to Rome. That's where we're going next. And we'll start that journey or maybe restart the journey tomorrow on Tuesday. See you then. It is time to do Tuesday's daily Bible reading that's going to be Acts chapter 28 versus 11 to 22. And this really in many ways marks the climax of the second half of the book of Acts because Paul arise, verse 14 in Rome, that is the climax of this part of the book. And in many ways the climax of the Gentile mission, we've sailed and there's some geography notes there putting in at Syracuse verse 12, Get your map in the back of your Bible to make sure you note some of these places. And so via the Appian way, verse 15, Paul comes to Rome, The Appian forum is 43 miles to Rome, three Ns is 33 miles to Rome. Both are well known stopping places on the Appian way. This Appian way is the famous road built by Aus Claudias and three 12 bc. It is the most famous Roman road. About 800 years later, pro kius of Caesarea was traveling on the Appian way and he wrote that the joints in the pavement were so tight that they were barely perceptible. And this road can still be seen today. In fact, I hope very much to get over to the Mediterranean side of the world and see the Appian way. Wouldn't that be really an amazing thing to see one of these days? I would like to walk the Appian way myself. Verse 15 says that on seeing these brothers, Paul, thank God and took courage. It had been three years since Paul had written to them the book of Romans. And if he was worried about his reception, then all is made well here with this, with these delegates who come to welcome him. And I think it's important to note that even Paul from time to time needed to take courage. Verse 16, then we came into Rome. That is the last time we get the we expression. It seems that Luke was with Paul all through this entire journey, all of this that he went through the book of FileMan and Colossians, however, put Luke with Paul in Rome, so Luke didn't leave him. What happens now is there is a focus on the Jews in Rome hearing the gospel. Please notice that we get that story instead of the story that we want. The story that we want is Paul in front of the Caesar or in front of the Roman tribunal that will decide his case. That's what I'm interested in. That's what I wanna know about. Luke doesn't tell us about that at all. Luke tells us about what the Jews do with the gospel. That's because that's Luke's emphasis. What does the gospel do when it gets to Rome? Who will listen to it? Who will hear it? How is that going to go? And in fact, verse 19 really poses that question that we've seen again and again in the book of Acts. Are you going to be the best kind of Jews? Are you going to be an open minded Jewish audience? Will you listen, I'm not a renegade Jew. How many times has we seen Paul saying that and running that kind of thing out? I am the right kind of Jew. I'm letting my Judaism bring me to Jesus. Will you do the same? We conclude the book of Acts tomorrow and answer that question when we finish Acts chapter 28. See you on Wednesday. It is Wednesday and it is almost with sadness that I do my daily Bible reading today because this is the last of Luke's amazing and incredible travel narrative. Indeed his amazing, incredible book of the acts of the Holy Spirit and the acts of the early church we're concluding acts today, Acts chapter 28 versus 23 to 31. I love this book and reading it this year with this special emphasis on Paul and just paying more attention to him and what he's thinking and what he's doing and how people are receiving him has just, it's just been world changing for me. I'll never think of Paul in the same way again. And this last business in Acts chapter 28 just just fits perfectly with that overall theme because Paul talks to the Jews about the kingdom of God. Verse 23, remember, remember in chapter one and verse six, the apostles asks, Will you restore the kingdom? So here's that book end. We start with the kingdom, we end with the kingdom. And here Luke is putting all that together in such a tight way. And what Paul gets is a mixed response. First 24, some were convinced and others disbelieve. That's kind of what we've seen through the entire book. And that in many ways is what you and I experience in our own lives. Sometimes we talk to people about the gospel that goes well, sometimes we talk to people about the gospel doesn't go so well. Same for Paul. That's what happens when you teach people about Jesus the Christ. Then we get in some ways sort of Paul's last words and verse 26 and 27, and his last words are hard for Jewish people to hear. He's making some quotations here about Isaiah the prophet and about how his preaching is going to result in some people. Some people who don't want to believe will just become hardened in their disbelief. So the result of Jews not hearing is that gospel, the gospel is going to gentiles, Gentiles will hear what the Jews refuse to hear. And so we end the book of Acts with Paul verse 30 and 31, having two years of relative liberty where he can go forth and go and do all sorts of preaching and teaching kinds of things. Judaism is being left further and further in the rear view mirror and the church is becoming more and more Gentile just all the time. Now, I know as you're closing today's reading, you're thinking exactly what I'm thinking. Well, and what? What happened? Luke, tell me what happened. And I think we should notice that Luke isn't telling us what happened perhaps because when he put his pin down, it hadn't happened yet. That may in fact be the case, but even more it would detract from his main goal. The story of the gospel triumphant. The gospel has reached the center of the Roman empire, the very capital itself, and it goes about boldly and unhindered. Men and women are coming to Jesus Christ as the church continues, the work that Jesus began, what started in Luke goes on in the Book of Acts. And in some ways, if Luke showed Paul being martyred, that would detract even further from that. Instead of triumph, there would be death and sadness. It is you CBS who tells us in his Eccles history that Paul was released and then later would be re imprisoned and martyred and the second imprisonment. And that does seem to fit with what we'll read in Timothy and second Timothy, and particularly in Titus. However, during these two years, Paul is doing all kinds of teaching things and also Paul is writing. Paul is writing those famous prison epistles, Colossians, Fa, Lehman, Ephesians, and Philippians. Guess what we're reading next? Hold on to Paul under house arrest in Rome and think about him writing to churches that he cared about very, very deeply, that he had enormous affection for and that he was concerned about as false doctrine began to take hold. That's where we're going next. Find Colossians in your Bible. We'll start there on Thursday. See you then. Welcome to Thursday, and it is an exciting Thursday because we're beginning a new book of the New Testament. Always exciting to start something new. We've been in acts for a long time, all the stories and the excitement. Now we turn over to Colossians and we're reading this prison epistle, and it's just so appropriate to read this in its setting and to think about Paul in Rome. We got him there and now from Rome. Paul writes through the church at Colossi. I don't wanna say a lot of introductory kinds of stuff because Lord willing, I'm gonna talk about that Sunday in the 10 40 hour as we continue to move forward with the preaching theme for the year, the New Testament Church Road tour. We're going to colossi and in fact, I plan for a guest preacher Tiki to do some speaking about the church in Colossi for us on Sunday. I'm excited about that, but I'll give you a couple of quick notes here. First and foremost, this would be about 60, 61, 62 80, somewhere around in there. And again, Paul is writing from prison note chapter four and verse 18. This is almost certainly the prison experience in Rome. His first imprisonment there and is significant to know that Paul has not met these colossian brethren. He says in chapter two in verse one that he has not seen them face to face. How then does Paul come to write them? He is writing them because a Paus the fellow. This is a Colossians one, verse seven, The fellow who probably heard the gospel in Ephesus and then carried it down the road to colossi. A pare has found Paul in Rome and he has some good things to say about the brethren Colossi, there's some wonderful things going on there, but there is, there is some false doctrine going on. There's the rise of something that's just not right, and Paul will address that in Colossians by talking about the supreme Christ and that the supreme Christ is all you need. I'm going to use that as the answer to that first question on the back of your reading schedule. Well, I'm sorry, it's the second question. The first question is Paul's feelings about things. The second question is, what is the central theme? The central theme in the book of Colossians is the supremacy of Christ. See the supremacy of Christ. And when you see the supremacy of Christ, you'll know that's all you need. You don't have to add anything to your Christianity. You don't need this mystical, maybe weird mix of magic and Judaism that's being foisted on the colossi brethren. No, no, no, the supreme Christ, Look at the supreme Christ. That's all you need. We are complete in Christ more about that on Sunday. But that'll get you started today. And today we read the first 10 verses. Sometimes this has a feeling when we start off with Paul, this is just kind of a protracted, howdy do, and we just kind of skip through it. Don't do that. There's a lot here, particularly starting in verse three after Paul has said hello, there is this prayer. We thank God beginning verse three, lots of thankfulness in Colossians. And we wanna pay attention to what Paul is saying here as he lays the groundwork for the entire epi. All. Notice that Paul puts together faith, hope and love like he loves to do so very much. And I am particularly impressed when Paul talks about how the gospel is going everywhere. We'll talk more about that as we come along. But that does not mean that every square mile of the inhabited earth had been evangelized. And as I said, we'll make note of that in chapter one and verse 23. But from his perspective, what he's talking about is the then known world, the world to Paul. The gospel is going everywhere without geographical or racial barriers. And so Paul is thankful for that. He's thankful for a Paus. Verse seven, he's the one who started the church in Colossi and he just says, We are praying for you all the time. Beginning in verse nine, Paul is pushing forward into a hym and exactly how to divide that is very controversial among Bible scholars. We're gonna divide that at the end of verse 10, and we'll talk more about this hym tomorrow. But just underlining your Bibles, the things that Paul is praying for, the things that the Colossians need to be filled with. Verse nine, Wow, so much practical. They so much is practical about this prayer. We wanna be filled like that with knowledge of God's will, with wisdom, with understanding, but not just so that we know a bunch of stuff. Hey, I did my daily Bible reading and I can tell you random facts about the church in Colossi. Know we want to know and understand and be wise so that we walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. Verse 10, We are pleasing him. We are bearing fruit. Think about that bearing fruit for the Lord. What a powerful beginning to this epistle. We'll talk more about the creation, Him beginning in verse 11. I'll see you tomorrow. It is Friday. Welcome to Friday. We made it to the end of the week. I'm home from the meeting I flew in yesterday. It's great to be home. Let's give our attention to our daily Bible reading before we dive into all the things the weekend offers for us. This is Colossians one, 11 to 23. Wanna pay most attention to the the passage 15 to 23, but I'll say a word or two here about verses 11 to 14. Notice specifically verse 13. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son. The kingdom is presently in existence and we can be part of it. In fact, we give thanks. Verse 12, there's that Thanksgiving emphasis again. We give thanks for that. So then beginning in verse 15, depending on how you want to divide these verses up, and as I said yesterday, there's a lot of discussion about some of that. There is a magnificent H here about Jesus and this is very much a New Testament him. And the reason we know that is because there is a rhythm to it that clues to us that this is not just standard writing but that it, it hangs together and goes together. In fact, there's a rhythm to it. Even in the English one writer said this, hem as it stands first describes Christ in the cosmos versus 15, 16 and 17 and then Christ in the church versus 18, 19, and 20. And there are parallels between both parts of the him. Very important to see. He is the image. Verse 15 of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation and firstborn here can't mean created. It can't mean that the very next thing that Paul will say is that Jesus is the one who did the creating. But even more firstborn here is just something that means preeminent and superior. I'm teaching in Genesis on Sunday morning, and one of the issues that we see with Joseph is that his father treats him as the firstborn. Even though he is not the firstborn, he is treated as preeminent as the one who is the most important. He will receive the blessings that go with being the first born. Even though Joseph is not the first born, that creates all kinds of drama with his brothers. Not only is he the first born, he is the instrument of creation, the one who does all things. John one, three for example, talks about that. And so he is before all things and in him all things hold together and even more, he's the head of the body, the church. Verse 18, What an amazing thing this is. Jesus is the head of the church, so we are always looking to please him. And that's where Paul goes next verse 21, 22, and 23, The Colossians come into this. You didn't used to be right with God, but now you are in that body. Verse 22, You've been reconciled by what Jesus does. However, look at verse 23. If you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast. There it is. See how Paul is laying the groundwork for all the things that he wants to talk about. In this great letter, he's going to talk about false doctrine in the appeal of false doctrine. And he wants to say, You need to stay in the faith. You need to remain stable and steadfast and not shift from the hope of the gospel. That's gonna gonna be the message of Colossians, and Paul is already talking about that as he starts this epistle. Well, there you go. There's viable reading for today, more in chapter one to start our viable reading next week. We'll have to leave that for Monday. Thanks for reading the Bible with me though today and indeed all of this week. I hope that if you like the Monday Morning Coffee podcast, you are following or subscribing to the podcast so that it will just download automatically on your device and I would love for you to rate it or give it a review that helps people find the podcast, tell somebody else about it. That's the best way to get the word out about what we're doing over here with the Monday Morning Coffee podcast. So until Monday, I hope your coffee is delightful and I hope your Friday is wonderful. I pray the Lord will be with you today all day. I will see you on Monday with a cup of coffee.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for listening to the West Side Church of Christ Podcast. Monday morning Coffee with Mark. For our more information about West Side, you can connect with us through our website, just christians.com and our Facebook page. Our music is from upbeat dot, that's upbeat with two ps u ppp, B E A t, where creators can get free music. Please share our podcast with others and we look forward to seeing you again with a cup of coffee. Of course, on next Monday.

Monday Acts 28:1-10
Tuesday Acts 28:11-22
Wednesday Acts 28:23-31
Thursday Colossians 1:1-10
Friday Colossians 1:11-23