What Matters Most in Bible Authority

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 10th. Can you believe we're this far into July and it's gonna be a great week? We're gearing up for youth lectures at West Side , Jeff Arrears coming this Wednesday as we continue the series on the case for Christianity. And I am drinking some amazing coffee from Onyx Coffee Roasters in Arkansas. This is their monarch and it is fabulous. Through my aero press , one of my Naren parents brought it to me doing Narnia Club. Oh , that is going so, so great. And we're just having a great summer. And part of that is our daily Bible reading in these prophets, which is just crazy great. Especially because this week we start my favorite minor profit . So much going on. It's time. Let's get started. So yesterday I continued the series on Bible authority and I do think maybe, maybe this is the most important lesson in that series because that last point where we're talking about what do we want and do we want to please God, there just seems to be this assumption that I can run around out here doing anything that I want and God is gonna be happy about that. And biblically speaking, that is absolutely not true. God loves patterns, God loves obedience. Those two things need to come together. And if I want to obey God, then I'm looking for the pattern cuz I'm trying to obey the Lord. That just stands out to me as the missing link in so many people's understanding of worship and the work of the church and everything else that we are doing. So I hope that helps you just, just keep asking yourself, do I wanna please God or am I trying to please myself? What is this all about? Who am I here for? What am I trying to do? I think that's where this needs to settle in. As soon as we say I'm trying to please God, then the next thing that happens is somebody says, how do I do that? How can I know what pleases God? And that drives the entire Bible authority discussion. It is interesting to me how this business of having a heart for God and Bible authority merged together. Think about it. Yeah, think about that an awful lot. Let's move forward into Bible reading cuz we're in the book of Nahham with some people who did not have a heart for God and who weren't trying to please him. Let's talk about the people of Nineveh. Let's talk about Nahham chapter two. So for Monday's reading, it's Nahham chapter two verses one to 13, the entire chapter, not a long chapter. And remember, this is all about Nineveh and it's all about how God is going to judge and destroy Nineveh, the very city that Jonah came and preached to God backed off of judgment. They repented, Nope , they're now up for judgment. They're up for destruction because they're back to their evil ways. Let me give you a couple of notes out of this chapter to pay attention to verse three. The shield of the mighty men is red , his soldiers are clothed in scarlet. There's a wordplay there read in Scarlet on the Hebrew word for blood. And so the idea here is that Nineveh is going to be destroyed and there's going to be all kinds of blood and so forth that goes with all of that. Verse four, the chariots race madly through the streets, they rush to and fro through the squares. They glean like torches. They dart like lightning. No, that is not talking about D f w traffic and how crazy people drive around here. Chariots were integral to the Assyrian army. They're a huge part of their effective military force. And so the image here is all kinds of destruction. The city is falling, chariots are running around crazy. Everybody's trying to get the army together, rally the army. It's not gonna work. It's not gonna work. Verse six, the river gates are open, the palace melts away. In the introduction to Nahham, I talked about how history records that Nineveh was built on some great rivers and the destruction of Nineveh was accomplished because the rivers flowed through the city and the enemy came and damned up the rivers and marched under the wall. Or there may have been a giant flood in those rivers and it tore down part of the wall. But the water was a huge part of what led to none of us' fall. So none of us like a pool. Verse eight , whose waters run away desolation verse 10, desolation and ruin. Where is the lions den? Verse 11. Nineveh and the Assyrians, they love the imagery of the lion. I'll be posting today on social media some pictures from the British Museum of the Wing Lions, Assyria love that imagery in here . Nahham is using that imagery to say, destructions coming to you. Behold I am against you. Declares the Lord of hose . Verse 13. This is heavy judgment stuff and I do think this is the kind of thing that gives the minor prophets that feel of it's just nonstop. I'm bringing judgment, I'm bringing judgment. Let me gimme a little bit of those coffee here. But we have seen first and foremost, it's not just nonstop judgment, but when it is judgment, we need to sit down in that. We need to think about that, we need to understand that and we need to let that be part of our conception and understanding of God. God judges sin, God judges, sinful nations. We're getting that full, full force here in Nahham chapter two. Don't duck away from that. Don't push away from that. Get in it. Think about what it means for God and for our relationship with the Lord. We can draw near to a God who judges sin. That's our goal today in Nahham chapter two. Welcome to Tuesday. And today we're reading Nahham chapter three verses one to 10. There is some very beautiful imagery in this chapter. It really arrests our attention. You can almost hear the battle in what nahham describes. Crack the whip, the rumble of the wheels. Verse two, the galloping horses horseman charging and flashing swords. This is quite the imagery and it does get your attention and focus on the judgment that's falling on this great and impressive city. Behold I am against you. Chapter three and verse five that connects to two 13. When God is against you, you're going down. Cannot possibly stand against the Lord. And there's a principle here in verses five and six of reversal. I think that's a principle across all of scripture. God turns the tables, the pride, the proudful our brought low . Make note of that as you're thinking through the questions that we're using to help us draw near to the Lord here. And then I love how this little section ends. Everybody's gonna say, Nineveh can't be brought down. That's never going to happen. Verse eight, are you better than thieves? What about Kush? Verse nine. In Egypt, all of these cities, all of these nations, they've been judged by God. God brought them down. Nineveh, how do you think you're the exception to the rule? Are you better than these? You're just not. And what we ought to hold onto here is that God demonstrates his power, his might, his holiness in judgment and maybe maybe a little archeology helps us. We we go look at the maps, we go look at the images of these cities, we go look at the detail of the dig that's going on and the size of the walls and the things these cities had going on. And we realize these were the queen cities, the crown jewels of the empires of the time. And nobody thought these cities were gonna be destroyed. It's just not even possible. We're so great. We're so amazing, they just can't be done. And God brought them down. And what's the message there when , when we read in our Bible about God coming to judge everything, at the end of all time, don't be thinking that's never gonna happen. God wouldn't do that or that we're impervious to that. It couldn't happen. We're so great. No, God has demonstrated that he can judge and he will judge. We ought to be getting that outta nahham . We ought be getting that outta nahham today because God brought Nineveh down Chapter three verses 11 to 19 for Wednesday. I'll see you then. It is Wednesday. It is hump day and today we complete the book of Nahham Nahham chapter three verses 11 to 19 is our daily Bible reading for today. And I'm already looking forward to this evening . Jeff Oar from Long Longview, Texas will be with us in our case for Christianity series. Gonna talk about the gospels. And here's Jeff to tell you a little bit more about his lesson.

Hello, I'm Jeff Oar from the Judson Road Church in Longview, Texas. I look forward to being with you this evening as you continue this summer series helping to build and strengthen the case for Christianity. Our study tonight seeks to answer the question, is it reasonable to believe the gospels? Maybe you've heard before, some person's attempt to plant doubt in our minds and hearts about Matthew, mark, Luke, and John. We all know the gospels have been corrupted. We all know the gospel authors have made up their own pictures of Jesus . Some will say we need to be alert and sober, sober-minded to not be quickly drawn away by such bold claims. Rather, let's look at the early external evidence and the evidence within the gospels themselves to recognize that these books are trustworthy and life-changing. We are going to see that the sum of the evidence points to the conclusion that it is reasonable for us to believe that the gospels present the truth about the teachings, miracles, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. I can't wait to be with you all tonight, July 12th as we grow in faith and hope together.

Great to hear from Jeff. Jeff has been a very active participant in our preacher workshop, our preacher conference that we do every year at West Side and I am excited about hearing him preach this evening. Let's finish up the book of Nahim here in verses 11 and 19, we get the final word about Nineveh and its destruction. Verse 11 says, you also will be drunken. This is a metaphor. This is the imagery of drunk on the wine of God's wrath. That is one of Jeremiah's favorite images that he uses in his preaching. And we wanna make sure that we add that to our glossary of prophetic imagery. We wanna make sure we have that handy because it will appear, for example, even in the book of Revelation, the idea of someone reeling and staggering under the blows of God as he smashes them and destroys them. And the imagery just continues to just be so colorful. Your troops are women in your midst. Verse 13, the fire will devour you like the locust. Verse 15, Nahum is so colorful, so powerful to read this, your princes are like grasshoppers. Verse 17, your scribes like clouds of locus, they fly away, no one knows where they are. Your shepherds are asleep . Oh , king of Assyria and your noble slumber. People are scattered on the mountains and none to gather them. I'll give you a quick note here from some scholars. Scholars still talk about how none, none of us such an amazing and great city could come to such an end so quickly. One writer said within a span of 80 years, Nineveh , which had been raised to unrivaled prominence by seib and his successors was obliterated from living memory. In fact, it was destroyed so completely that one archeologist said that unless archeologist had dug her up, we might, I'm quoting here, have doubted that Nineveh ever even existed. Wow. When God says I am against you, that means trouble's coming and noam's or oracle ham's, prophetic word against none of us stands for all time to remind us of the power of the judgment of God. Tomorrow back to some history, be reading in Kings and Chronicles and then we'll head to my favorite minor prophet. See you tomorrow. It is Thursday. And today for Thursday's reading, we're reading two Kings 23 verses 28, 29 and 30. Wow , that's a short reading. But then we need to go get Chronicles second Chronicles 35 verses 20 to 27. And this is about the death of Josiah. And this is hard to read. I like Josiah a lot. Reading through kings this time has made me like him even more. He starts young and he just keeps going. He is so committed to the Lord. He's such a powerful force for righteousness. And God uses him in such a great way and he's such a good king. He actually delays the judgment of God. Everything that Judah deserved for just the wholesale wickedness of manasa is all put on hold because of Josiah's restoration efforts. And then, yeah, it just ends badly. It just ends badly. Our reading in Second Kings chapter 23 tells us that Josiah gets killed in battle. Pharaoh Neko , verse 29 goes to meet the king of Assyria and Josiah decides he's gonna cut him off. Egypt's trying to aid Assyria in the battle against Babylon. And Josiah doesn't want the Assyrian empire strengthened and and you can see why the Assyrians have cast their shadow over Israel and Judah. They took Israel away into captivity and they have cast their shadow over Judah for a long time. And Josiah is not interested in a strengthened Assyrian empire. Yeah, Babylon is coming. They're growing, but they're not what they're going to be yet. So better to have just a bunch of weak competitors rather than Egypt and Assyria being together and making one strong competitor. So Josiah goes to cut off Pharaoh Neko and they, they battle at Maketto. And I've been to Maketto and I've showed some pictures of Meto. It's a huge plane . It's a pass in the rocky terrain, the mountainous terrain of Israel. You need a big flat, flat field if you're gonna have a big flat area, if you're gonna have a battle like they fought in biblical times and that's the perfect place for it. The big fields of Mag ghetto there. And Josiah unexpectedly gets killed. I never saw that coming. I never saw that coming. I thought he would most assuredly just stomp on the Egyptians and everything would be good. What's the deal? How come he dies? Well that's why we're reading in Chronicles. Chronicles tells us instant Chronicles 35 verse 21 that Pharaoh Neko tells Josiah, Hey, God has sent me, I am on a mission from God. Don't get in my way. Don't hold me up. Get your army outta my way. Don't try to stop me. And I'd be thinking maybe what Josiah was thinking, oh come on, God did not tell you that Pharaoh Neco , I'm not doing that. I'm not, no , I'm gonna stop you. I'm not listening to you. But the account in Chronicles is clear, he did not listen. Verse 22 to the words of Neko from the mouth of God. Neko was being sent by God and and maybe you're thinking kind of what I'm thinking, who listens to in Egyptian King claiming to have a message from God? And that is a fair point. Josiah may have thought Neco was just making that up. Why should he trust Pharaoh Neko ? But Josiah could have asked, why didn't Josiah get ahold of Jeremiah? Hey Jeremiah, is this guy really, really on a mission from God? Did God really tell Pharaoh neko to go do this? I don't wanna oppose God, but that's kinda looking a little cloudy to me. You know, gimme some information here, gimme some insight. Tell me what God wants me to do here. He did not seek the Lord. In fact, there's a non inspired book. It's not part of your Bible, first Ezra. And it includes a tradition that says Josiah did not turn back his chariot, but tried to fight with neko and did not heed the words of the prophet Jeremiah from the mouth of the Lord. That's in chapter one of first Ezra Ezras is spelled E S D R A S. You can probably download that text off the internet. So the idea is there that Josiah didn't listen to God. And that seems to be part of what's being said here in Chronicles. God did not want him to go. In fact, a big part of Jeremiah's message is always to the kings of Judas state out of international politics, that is not where you need to be. You just trust in God. God will take care of things. You don't need to worry about the Assyrians or the Egyptians or the Babylonians. You don't need to make a political power move. You don't need to stop the Egyptians from shoring up the Assyrians. Just trust in the Lord God will establish you. And Josiah evidently didn't listen to God. How ? How many kings in badly. We have youth lectures. We're coming up on youth lectures next week. It's gonna be great. It's gonna be amazing. We do a lot of things to encourage our young people. We need to do more things to encourage our old people to finish strong. Solomon Fa fades away. There are a number of other kings, Josiah, they asa , they fade away in their old age. And Josiah as great a king as he is. Come on, Josiah didn't listen to God, he dies for it. And that is not the ending that I wanted to read about King Josiah. But that's our reading for today. Tomorrow we'll go read another prophet that was speaking during this time, a prophet who had some questions for God. Tomorrow we're reading the book of Habakkuk. It is Friday and today we are reading in Habakkuk. We read Habakkuk the first chapter today. True story. I'm a little unhappy with how I cut up the Bible readings here. I think I should have cut Habakkuk in into more pieces so that we could focus on each of these prayers. But we are reading the whole first chapter today. Let me give you a little background on Habakkuk. We don't know anything about the prophet himself. We don't know anything about the man. He is very aware of the current situation and what's going on, but we don't know anything about him. And we're not even sure exactly when to date this particular book because it's about the invasion of the Babylonians who Habakkuk calls the Chaldeans. Those terms are used interchangeably and the Babylonians came and invaded three times. Sometimes it's good to have some dates written maybe in the margin of your Bible or just committed to memory. Remember the Babylonians invaded Judean Jerusalem three times in 6 0 5. They arrive after the battle of car Kamesh. They turn Judah into this vasal state. That's when they take Daniel Sha Michek and Abednego as captives. Then in 5 97, once again, Judah rebels against Babylon bad idea and battle and shows up and they deport a zillion people, the general population. They scarf 'em all up and drag 'em off into slavery. And then in 5 86 Judah rebel's again under Kings Zakiah . And this time Abilene shows up and they just level Jerusalem, burn everything down, destroy the city, pull the walls down, burn the temple. So it's three events, 6 0 5, 5 97, 5 86. Hard to know exactly which one of those invasions Habakkuk is anticipating here, but we are sure that Habakkuk lived in terrible times. There's idolatry, there's hatred, there's violence, there's a dismal lack of respect for God all through the land of Judah. This is the time of Jeremiah, and we'll go read more of Jeremiah. It'll just make you pull your hair out. It's just a terrible time. Jeremiah's pulling his hair out. It is a bad time to be in Judah if you're trying to be righteous. And Habakkuk has some problems with that. That's our reading today. Habakkuk one verse two, oh Lord, how long shall I cry for help? And you will not hear? Why do you make me verse three, see iniquity. Why do you look at wrong? The idea of seeing and looking is just huge. And this is about, this is about Habakkuk saying, God, why are you putting up with this? Why are you putting up with all of this sin and you're not doing anything about it? You're not punishing all the wickedness that I see going on all around me. Now, notice that Habakkuk does not complain about God or against God. He complains to God. That is significant. I've said several times, this is my favorite mine of Prophet. And what I love is that Habakkuk can say to God, I don't get it. I don't understand what's happening here. And instead of being irreverent or quitting on his faith, he takes those complaints to God. And in our reading today, in verses five to 11, God answers habakkuk's complaint. And the answer is, it's not gonna be long. Hey, I see that verse five, look among the nations and see, look how that's picking up that sea . And look, idea out of verse three, God says, I see what's going on. Look around. I'm raising up the Chaldeans. Verse six, Chaldeans are the Babylonians and I am bringing them here, and they are going tore. They're just gonna wreck judgment on Jerusalem and on Judea, I know what's going on. I know what my people are doing and I'm bringing judgment on them. So at verse 11, it ought to be, okay, great answer that question. We're all good. We're all done here. It's it . It's all great. Write Habakkuk. No, Habakkuk says, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. And that brings his second prayer in chapter one and verse 12. And what Habakkuk says in his second prayer is, how ? How does that work? How ? How does that work? I don't understand God, how you can bring people who are wickeder than we are to bring judgment upon us. I got to watch on YouTube some wonderful, wonderful material. Florida College did some Bible seminars this summer. They called it Bible camp. And Dr. Nathan Ward did some great stuff with prayer. He's written a book on prayer. I'm reading that book now. And he did some wonderful stuff with Habakkuk . And what he said about this is Habakkuk's response to God saying, Hey, I'm bringing judgment and it's not gonna be very long here. Habakkuk's response was, you're doing what with who. Because what Habakkuk's complained about is injustice and the Babylonians, they're not just verse seven, they're justice and dignity go forth from themselves. They don't act in a just way, God, don't you see? Look at who these people are. This just doesn't add up for Haba at all. He doesn't understand what God is doing. But more the problem is he does understand who God is. That's why this is so important in our reading this year because we're trying to draw near to God. And what Habakkuk says is I, as I draw near to you, Lord, what you're doing doesn't match up with what I know of who you are. My problem, Habakkuk says, is I believe in you. God, I believe in your character. I believe in your righteousness and your holiness. And this just doesn't look right. That to me, is incredibly powerful because Habakkuk is telling it like it is. He's not putting on a smile. He's not pretending, oh God, well you know, that's great and it's all just wonderful. And certain no Habak says, I don't understand. I don't understand how you can use those terrible people. Those people, they don't even worship you. Lord, their God is their strength. Those people worship themselves. They're worse than we are. Why are you using them to punish us? And amazingly, God answers Habakkuk, and we'll start with that on Monday. What a tremendous book this is. I will take my stand, chapter two verse one. I'm just gonna watch God. I'm gonna see what you say, what you do. I'm trusting in you, God, but I am certainly having a hard time understanding how and why you're doing what you're doing. More on this. Hard to stop reading here, isn't it? I'll see you Monday and we'll continue in the Book of Habakkuk. Thank you so much for listening to the Monday Morning Coffee podcast. If you like what you're hearing, please tell others about the podcast. And of course, you need to be subscribed or followed so that it will download automatically into your device. If you need help with that, talk with me about that. We have some techy people who can certainly help you with your device. So it'll just show up there automatically. It's kind of like magic. And there will be the podcast ready for you on Monday morning. And again, tell folks about the podcast. That's a great conversation to have with people. What do you listen to ? Do you listen to podcasts? Hey, I've got a podcast that helps me with my daily Bible reading. Think about how that positions you as somebody who's taking their faith seriously. Well, until next week, then, 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.

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