The Truths we Ignore about God

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.

Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to the Monday Morning Coffee podcast for Monday, July the third. Happy Birthday America. That is tomorrow. I know some of you are on a holiday weekend enjoying some time off. I hope you're doing your daily Bible reading, staying with the Word of God, even as we celebrate some good things with friends and with family. This is a big week for us at West Side Jacob Hudgins coming in on Wednesday night. That's gonna be great. As we continue our series on the case for Christianity, we're reading in Zephaniah , and yesterday I got to talk about some things we forget about God. Let's get started. So yesterday I did preach a sermon about some attributes of God, some of the components of who God is, that we often forget or ignore, and that seemed appropriate at a time. We're thinking about America's birthday and how blessed this country has been as people talk a little bit about how America needs to get back to God. These are the kind of core ideas that would help men and women and , and let's be honest, that's where that really lands. It's not about this country and some kind of political maneuvering returning to the Lord. America's never been like that in the first place. When you talk about people, you talk about, we've got to get back to God. We're talking about individuals choosing to serve the Lord. That's what that's about. And of course that means they're gonna be aware of the awesomeness of God, that God is still angry at sin and that yes, God still wants to save sinners. So those three pieces all work together. If I could have added a fourth, maybe I would say something about how oftentimes we forget how dependent we are upon God, that God is a sustainer of everything. Sometimes we talk about God being the creator, as if he started everything and now has nothing to do with anything. And of course, that is not the case. The Bible affirms again and again that God is holding everything together at this moment, the moment you're listening to me right now, by the will of his power, Paul makes that point in Acts. Paul makes that point in Colossians, God sustains everything. Maybe, maybe we're just too comfortable in our way of life and, and who we are and what we're doing. Maybe some of that comes because we're not an agricultural society. I, I think farmers are just a little more aware that there's a lot that they can't control if the crop is gonna come in, they need the rain at the right time. They need the sunshine. They, they need there not to be a locust plague. Hello Book of Joel. There's, there's a lot that's happening in farming that you just don't have any ability to affect . And that maybe that brings those folks a little closer to the Lord because they acknowledge their dependence . And what you and I need to make sure that we are seeing is that we are not independent. God is the sustainer, not just the maker, not just a creator. God is the sustainer of everything . Your life, my life, the world that we live in. It's all holding together by the word of His power. I referenced that passage in Colossians a minute ago. He, it is Colossians one 15. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible, invisible thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities. All things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things. And in him, all things hold together. Colossians one verse 17, maybe. Maybe this is a good place to stop what you're doing and ask the Lord to bless your sense of dependence upon him. America needs to be reminded. We still need God. Now let's turn our attention to a book of the Bible. We don't read a lot, but we're reading it now. We're in the book of Zephaniah. Open your Bible to Zephaniah chapter two. That'll be our reading for Monday. Monday's reading is in the book of Zephaniah . Zephaniah , chapter two verses one to 15. Let's get our feet settled in on Zephaniah again, since it's been maybe a long weekend. I know some of you maybe won't be catching up with this until Tuesday or Wednesday if you're on vacation, if you're doing some things over the 4th of July weekend, Zephaniah is hard to date, may have been a mover and shaker in causing Josiah's reforms may have come after Josiah's reforms when they're wearing off and they went away very quickly. We will see more of that as we continue this year and reading the Israelite people and the Judean people's history and seeing lots of great preaching that just seems to have gone to waste. Nobody seems to have paid much attention to Jeremiah ever. And Zephaniah here brings a word of judgment. The day of the Lord is coming. We read Zephaniah chapter one last week. Notice verse 14. The great day of the Lord is near the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter. It's a day of wrath. Verse 15, the day of distress, a day of ruin, darkness, clouds, the trumpet blast will come. It's the day of wrath. Verse 18. That's where we are in Zephaniah. Really glad that we're doing this reading schedule this year. Zephaniah is one of those great books of the Bible, like Habakkuk really excited about turning our attention to Habakkuk here before very long. That Zephaniah is one of those books of the Bible that you read it and you think, wow, I I , I hadn't read that before. I haven't read that in a really long time. Kind of forgot about that. Really glad I'm reading that cuz it helps us take God more seriously. Helps us take God more seriously. So let's look at our reading in Zephaniah chapter two, going to read this entire chapter, but of course that's only 15 verses. So it's not a giant reading. Verse one connects us to that idea of the day of the Lord from chapter one and verse 14, because it starts, I'm sorry, it's not verse one, it's verse two. Before the decree takes effect before the day, that's the day of wrath. That's the day of judgment. Zephaniah is holding that theme again. Verse three, on the day of the anger of the Lord. And then what Zephaniah does here reminds us a little bit of Amos . Do you remember in Amos, Amos takes a tour of the nations around Israel, Damascus, the Philistines in Gaza, Edam , Moab, three transgressions. And then for four, he gets his audience nodding their head. Oh, that's right, good preaching right there, good preaching. Amos bring that judgment on these nations around us. Oh, we love that preaching. And then of course Amos lowers the boom and says, you're just like those nations and God's judgment is coming upon you. Israel. Shaniah does a little bit of that, barring a little bit out of Amos's playbook as he moves around, talks about the Philistines beginning in verses four to seven. Look at verse four, grab verse four. Very unusual to have an attack come at noon time . Then you have Moab and am in verses eight to 11. Of course, Moab and Amon, they go way back with Israel all the way back to the time of Moses. Numbers chapter 22 and 24. Talk about that. There have been other wars, book of judges, Samuel, they've always been there. Look at the highlight here about pride. Verse 10. This shall be their lot in return for their pride. Look how God judges nations, not just his people. God holds everybody accountable for the sin of pride. Then you get Kush in verse 12, that'd be the upper Nile region including some of Egypt, maybe maybe thinking about that Egyptian empire. I think the King James has Ethiopia here, and that's probably a little misleading. That's too far south. And then in a very startling way, Assyria gets called out here, 13, 14, 15. Assyria is gonna go down. God is stretching his hand out against the Assyrians. So you can just see all of Zephaniah's listeners saying, boy , this is some wonderful preaching we've been waiting to hear about God's judgment coming on all of our enemies. Look where we're going tomorrow. Zephaniah is gonna bring that home when he talks about Jerusalem coming under God's judgment as well. Read Zephaniah chapter two. I'll see you tomorrow and we'll think about Zephaniah chapter three. It is Tuesday, July the fourth, and we are reading today in Zephaniah chapter three verses one to eight. And it is, it is good to be thankful for America and all the good things that God has done for this country. We should be mindful of that on this independence day. As I mentioned in our notes about the sermon, we don't wanna be independent of the Lord, but we certainly are thankful for the freedoms that we have in this great country . So let's read ins F and I , chapter three. Yesterday we read in chapter two saw some things about how these other nations are gonna be judged. And I think there's an emphasis there about these nations will be finished in a way that Judah won't be, but judgment is coming. And if you read in judges, I'm sorry if you read in F Niah three , you see this judgment being spelled out. She listens verse two to no voice. She accepts no correction. Look at that emphasis on pride. We saw that yesterday in chapter two and verse 10. Once again, pride is a problem there . The charges here. She doesn't obey anybody. She doesn't trust God. She doesn't draw near to God. But that is all rooted in pride and her officials are part of the problem. They are not leading the people to know the Lord, the prophets, verse four and the priest, they're not leading people to know the Lord May maybe, maybe this is why we would think of this early in Josiah's reign. Assyria is still a player. We saw that yesterday and there's still, it seems like mass iniquity still going on. So judgment is going to have to come. Verse five. He's going to have , God is going to have to act and he will act. But again, it won't be final. It won't be a complete end to Judea. Your dwelling verse seven will not be cut off. However that remnant verse eight, they will have to wait. They will have to wait upon the Lord for his activity to restore, to bring them home from captivity. Want you to notice that idea of the remnant waiting on God that grows in the prophets in as a theme in the prophets, as the judgment of God falls. They're in Babylonian captivity. Lots of people are gonna be saying, when is God gonna do something about this? They're going to have to wait more on this idea tomorrow as we finish the book of Zephaniah . See you on Wednesday. It is Wednesday and today we finished the book of Zephaniah . Before we do that, let's think about our speaker for tonight as we continue in our series, the Case for Christianity. And I think Jacob has a really interesting take on some important aspects of Jesus's life and that could be very evangelistic for you and me. Jacob, tell us a little bit about your sermon tonight.

Hi guys, my name is Jacob Hudgins and I preach for the twin City Church of Christ in College Station, Texas. I'm excited to be with you this week on Wednesday, July 5th to talk about how Jesus goodness proves his claims. It's amazing to me how people of all kinds throughout time have been fascinated by Jesus. But often we don't think about how that fascination can be turned toward convincing people that the gospel is real and true. So I want us to think this week about how Jesus goodness shines through and confirms some of those otherwise outrageous claims he makes. So come join us on Wednesday, July 5th as we think about how his goodness makes all the difference for us. I look forward to seeing you there.

Thank you, Jacob. I think that's just going to be a very, very helpful lesson, not only for our own faith, but as we try to reach others with the gospel. Let's finish Zephaniah now and you'll like how this book ends. Zephaniah chapter three verses nine to 20 is our reading for Wednesday. And it's an important reading because there's so much here about that remnant. We got a little bit of that yesterday in verse eight. And now God is calling verse 10, from beyond the rivers of cush, my worshipers on that day. Verse 11, the day of wrath, the day of judgment. People of the remnant don't have to be afraid. No, God's gonna purify out the proud verse 11, you shall no longer be hotty. Who's going to make it through that day of judgment, that time of wrath. The people who are humble and lowly who seek refuge in the name of the Lord, those who are left in Israel, that's the remnant. Chapter three and verse 12. That's those who God will spare. Those are the ones that God is going to be working with and continuing to use to bring about his promises and to bring about his will. Again on that day, verse 16, there's that day of wrath and they're gonna see that God is in their midst. Verse 17, the expression, he will quiet you by his love. Verse 17, that's a tough expression. That may mean that God's love will be so strong that everyone will just be overwhelmed by the presence of God. And I'm gonna gather verse 18, there's that remnant, there's that remnant. They can't serve God. They can't be involved in those feasts in a foreign land, but now they're gathered and they can come home. And at that time, verse 19, the day of time , the time of judgment, the day of judgment. I'm gonna deal with your oppressors, but I'm gonna save the lame . The remnant will come home, not those who are hotty and proud at that time, I'll bring you in. I will gather you together. I think one of the important emphasis , emphases, emphasizes emphases Here, let me get a swig of coffee here to keep all this going. One of the important emphases here is that even when it looks like God's people are crushed and God's has lost his way, God's people are forsaken. God is at work and God is preserving the remnant. You and I are part of that remnant. Now, we need to read this part of Zephaniah, pray about this part of Zephaniah and make sure that we're part of verse 12, the humble and lowly, the people who seek their refuge in the name of the Lord. That is who we want to be. That is the remnant that God will preserve. That's the Book of Zephaniah . Tomorrow, a totally different book. Get ready for nahham . I'll see you on Thursday. Welcome to Thursday and a Change of Face . Let's go to Nineveh and see what the Assyrians are up to. And we're doing that in the book of Nahham . Nahham is an important book for a number of reasons, and we need to think about what this book is doing here. Need to detail some of those reasons. Here's a book that contains three chapters of a prophecy and a sermon preaching to a people that are not God's people. What? What's going on here? I expect to open my Bible and read what God has to say to the Israelites, to the Jews and Judea . Yes, but what's, what's Nam doing? Talking to the Assyrians? What's that all about? I would remind you of three great truths that Nahham helps us see first that God judges all, not just His people, not just the nation of Israel. God judges all nations. And then secondly, God cares about all God cares about all people. God wants everyone to do what's right. God wants all people to know about him. And that brings me thirdly then to say this, God is in control of all things. So God judges all nations. God cares about all nations, but God is in control of all things. He is sovereign and he can bring even bring down even the power of the Assyrian Empire. And that is the theme of the book of Nahham . I like to say that they had repented of their repentance. We read the book of Jonah. Jonah shows up, preaches things, turn around. Jonah's not happy about it, but things do turn around. They start doing what's right. But by the time of Nahham , this would be somewhere from about 6 63 to six 12 BC because Nineveh was destroyed in six 12 bc. So there's the end point of the book of Nahham, somewhere six 60 to six, somewhere in there they had turned away from the preaching of Jonah, turned away from God, gone back to being the wicked and extremely cruel people that history records the Assyrians as being. Here's a quote from the Assyrian King, Asher banal about a city that he captured. He says this in his Chronicles, I captured many soldiers alive and the rest I burnt. I built a pile of life. Men and their heads before their gait , I burned their teenage boys and girls. That's a hard quote to read, it's a hard quote to hear, but there are many more of those kinds of inscriptions where the Assyrians boast about the atrocities that they committed about impaling men and women and just doing dreadfully awful sorts of things. Nahum says, God knows what you're doing and God's bringing judgment for what you have done. I think the key verse in the book of Nahham is Nahham one, seven and eight gonna read that today. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble. He knows those who take refuge in him, but with an overwhelming flood, he will make a complete end of the adversaries and will pursue his enemies into darkness. The destruction of Nineveh would not be the kind of thing that anybody would expect. People must have looked at Nahum and said, are you kidding me? That will never happen because Nineveh was a great and powerful city. It was huge. The walls were eight miles in circumference, which for an ancient city is enormous. The walls average 50 feet wide and at some places over a hundred feet wide, archeologists have uncovered the great palace of Sinna . 71 rooms, 27 gateways with the famous Assyrian winged bulls . This was an amazing city. No one can bring this city down. Nahham comes and announces it's being brought down. God will do this. God is judging this city. In fact, as you read in Nahham , watch for the emphasis on floods and waters. And we know from history that is what brought the end to Nineveh. The city was close to the Tigress River and there were two smaller rivers that went through the city itself. And we're not entirely certain about all of the circumstances of this. The city was either flooded by God or the floodgates that controlled these rivers were seized by the enemy and they were opened causing an artificial flood. But it is the flood that breached those famous walls and caused the downfall of Nineveh, just like Nahham said. And I want, as we do our reading in Nahham for us to keep hold of the good goodness of God. Now that sounds surprising in a book that's about judgment and God coming against a great city, and this is going to be an easy book to say, oh, it's another book of the prophets where there's just railing against sin and wickedness. Judge, judge, judge. God's bringing judgment . It's not like that. Read it more carefully. Nahm one verse three. The Lord is slow to anger, slow to anger. Look at verse seven. The Lord is good. Watch for the goodness of God because this book holds together both God's goodness and God's justice. Both of these things are found in the book of Nahum . Read carefully and you'll see both attributes of the Lord. You'll draw closer to the God who is good and just more on this tomorrow as we continue in the book of Nahum . Hey, it's Friday and you made it through another week. We finish the week reading Nahham chapter one, verses nine to 15. And this is a marvelous set of passages detailing the charges against Assyria. And please notice there's a tone of total reversal verses 12 and 13. A serious power is shattered and Judahs is utterly established. God's justice and judgment. There are said to apply to Judah as well. Verse 12, you might notice that. And then there will be a revival of power in verse 13. Is that Josiah? That's probably King Josiah, and how God uses him and restores much of his kingdom. But in verse 14, we just see that utter idolatry that's going on in Assyria, Assyrian Kings honored many Gods Asher banal paid homage to 17 gods on a single cylinder of his writing. Too much idolatry, ridiculous idolatry that's gonna be judged and instead there'll be joy in restoration. Verse 15, for God's people in Judah, more in Nahham next week we'll be in Nahham chapter two on Monday and I'll see you then. Thank you for listening to the Monday Morning Coffee podcast. You know what I'm gonna say? We would certainly appreciate it if you would rate and subscribe or follow to the podcast. That helps it bump up in those ratings. More followers, more people downloading it, more people giving it a good review. Tell others about the show, tell others about how it helps you stay in your daily Bible reading. So until Monday when we are gonna read more in the book of Nahham , I hope that your Friday is wonderful and that the Lord will be with you today all day. I'll see you on Monday with a cup of coffee.

Thanks for listening to the Westside church of Christ podcast. Monday morning coffee with mark . For 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.is that's upbeat with two P'S UPP , 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 company coffee, of course, on next Monday.