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 December the 25th. Merry Christmas. I'm gonna guess that a lot of people are doing a lot of fun things other than listening to my podcast on Monday morning. But you will get to the podcast, you'll get to David Bible reading . You'll get to it sometime today or maybe even tomorrow. And you know what that is. Okay, that's just fine. But I do have my notes from yesterday's sermon. I want to give you a little additional details about that sermon. And I do have, well, full disclosure, I'm working the bottom of a cup of coffee there. Gonna need a refill I think to make this podcast go. But we're gonna talk about Isaiah this week in daily Bible reading. But first, let's talk about having a heart for God. Let's talk about humility from Philippians chapter two and why I preached that yesterday. Let's get started. Yesterday I closed out the preaching theme for the year on having a heart for God and I was really looking for something that would fit as well with the time of year, the place that we're in Christmas Eve especially. I knew there'd be a lot of visitors who come to church this time of year thinking about Jesus and about the birth of Christ. And I hope that it didn't offend you that I preached about the birth of Christ yesterday from Philippians II chapter. It just seems fitting inappropriate and in some ways it seems so out of kilter to do otherwise. Jesus makes the comment to his disciples in Matthew chapter seven that if you as parents, if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? And I've always felt on that weekend, that Sunday, that's the closest to Christmas, people come looking for bread and then I end up preaching on Moses or something out of Leviticus or deep in the middle of Psalms and it just seems like I'm giving them a stone instead of bread. The hope here is to do something so challenging but so rooted in scripture that they will come and return again looking for more bread. And I know that that sometimes can be problematic for people, but I'm just not convinced that because other religious groups do something that means we can't do it. That seems to be the guiding principle in some people's lives. If those folks over there do it, then we can't. I think we're terribly inconsistent if that is what the Bible teaches, what are we doing in a church building? What are we doing with so much of our religious practices? For example, having a paid full-time preacher that is this idea that, oh, those folks over there do it. So we can't is just very arbitrarily applied mostly to something that we're uncomfortable with or to something that, hey, we've never done it that way before. The easiest thing to do is to say, Hey, denominational people do it. That means we can't do it. I don't know where the Bible teaches that. I'm not sure where we derived that principle. I know that we can't condone false religion. Paul went and preached in the synagogue. Paul went and preached in Athens to in the middle of idol temples. I I'm just not convinced that because somebody else is doing something religious, particularly when the Bible talks about that matter, two of the gospels carry the story of Jesus' birth. How have we decided, oh, because other people talk about the birth of Jesus, we'll have to ignore the birth of Jesus in the month of December. I am just not convinced about that at all. And so yesterday I tied together the preaching theme for the year with Paul's wonderful, wonderful text about the incarnation of Jesus Philippians second chapter. And I hope that was helpful to you and I hope it was helpful to our visitors. Maybe maybe the best way for me to end our sermon notes then is a little bit from CS Lewis. I love this quote from CS Lewis because it talks about how humbling it was for Jesus to come here. Here is the quote, the eternal being who knows everything and who created the whole universe became not only a man, but before that a baby and before that, a fetus inside a woman's body. If you want to get the hang of it, think how you would like to become a slug or a crab. Thank you. See us Lewis for helping us begin to scale how far Jesus came to come to Bethlehem and to be born of woman, laid in a manger as he began his mission here to save you and me from our sins. Let's think a little bit more about that as we do our daily Bible . Reading from the prophet Isaiah this week. I've refilled my coffee and I had my Bible open to Isaiah the second chapter. Wow , this is a wonderful coffee from Peru and it is just fantastic. Now, we read some from Isaiah earlier in the year, that was back in April and May. So we need to get the timeframe here again because Malachi obviously is the last book of the Old Testament. And the next thing that comes in your Bible is Matthew. And so if we're going to Isaiah, we're backing up and we are, we're backing up to about the time of seven 50 to 700 bc. Isaiah considered by many people to be the greatest of all the prophets because the New Testament quotes are allude to his work over 60 times and he just has all this messianic stuff that we're gonna read this week . He is the dominant prophetic voice during his period seven 50 to 700 bc. Like I said, he counsels kings, siah, jotham , Ahaz , and Hezekiah , he preaches to a nation that needs to get serious with God again and he has lots of wonderful, wonderful stuff about the coming Messiah. But one of the great things about our reading this week is that we're going to do more than just read four or five verses and you look at those verses and you say, oh look, it's Jesus. We're gonna get the context and get to read the entire chapter. And that starts today in Isaiah two . Our reading for Monday is Isaiah, the second chapter which contains the amazing prophecy of the wonderful future for Jerusalem, and that's verses one to four. And I think the key here is that God is going to do something amazing in Jerusalem and that God is not through with the Jews. Let's remember where things are when Isaiah's preaching. Judah is a small province, a small country, and the Assyrians to the north are doing powerful things and there's not much that Judah seems like they can do about any of that. Is God done with Judah? Are they going to be swept away? No. At a Pentecost, far in the future, God's ultimate purpose of bringing all people to him through the gospel will be realized. And that of course it happens in Acts, the second chapter now then Isaiah varies between the immediate crisis and the far future where there's hope for great things by talking more about the judgment to come on the people who don't know God. That's verses six to 22 and that's the part of Isaiah two that a lot of people don't read. Please pay particular attention. Verse 11, verse 17, verse 12, got that out of order in deny verse 12 verse 17 about Hottiness, hottiness and pride. What did we talk about yesterday? Yesterday we talked about humility and how essential that is to our relationship with God here. One of the greatest of all the prophets, if not the greatest of the prophets, is talking about the very same idea. We have to be humbled and brought low if God is going to use us. And then of course verse 20, I love in that day mankind will cast away. Better things are to come when people are brought low and the work of God goes forward in the gospel. Read Isaiah two today and think about Acts chapter two. There's so many twos in Acts chapter two, acts two based on Joel two and Isaiah two . How about that? See you tomorrow. On Tuesday, we'll read Isaiah nine. It is Tuesday and today we're reading Isaiah chapter nine. Maybe you're doing your reading while you're standing in line to return Christmas gifts that didn't fit or weren't exactly what everybody wanted. Wherever you are, I hope you have got some coffee. I do. Hmm . And I hope that you are ready to read and work. In Isaiah nine, Isaiah nine opens with good news for the lands of Zebulon and Nepali. That's verse one. These were first invaded by Assyria. So these lands have known some difficulties, but Matthew four verses 15 and 16 fixes the understanding of these verses as being about the Messiah because these would be the lands that would first see the Messiah. And I think this is probably talking about the land of Galilee where Jesus begins his ministry. Then verse two though unfortunately tells us that these prophecies are not going to be understood and John quotes that in John 1 46 and John 7 52 to say people didn't get it. People did not understand that Jesus was the Messiah. Then there is this theme of war implements being put away. This is a common idea in the prophets instead of war. And all the terrors and horrors that go with that peace would come in the version of a great deliverer that's verses three, four, and five. But the great deliverer is not a tremendous warrior who comes and stops all wars by dominating everybody and winning every battle. Instead. Verses six and seven tell us the deliverer is a child. This is the child Emmanuel, Isaiah seven in verse 14, the child born of a virgin. This is Jesus the Christ and the titles applied here. Leave no doubt that the Messiah must be divine. And then of course, as I said, we're gonna read all of this material, not just pluck out the messianic cool stuff. So the chapter then takes a sharp turn toward bad news and there's forced answers of judgment verses eight to 21. And the material is primarily directed toward the north. Don't forget that during Isaiah's time, the northern kingdom still does exist and it is directed towards those kingdoms. Notice verse nine, Ephrem in the inhabitants of Samaria . And notice again in verse 21, Manasses devours E from E, from devours in Manasses and together they are against Judah. The important phrase here is his anger is not turned away. That's used in verses 12 17 21 and in chapter 10 in verse four, chapter nine really rolls on into chapter 10 and we need to see that while God is doing some amazing things in the Messiah, there's that right now concern about people who aren't ready for God's work because they are not serving the Lord as they should write . Now maybe there's a good application of that to you and me. We are waiting for the Messiah to return. Are we? Are we what we ought to be? Or like the northern 10 tribes mentioned here in Isaiah nine, are we failing the Lord? Think a little bit about that, but of course we rejoice in this child that is born, this child, wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace, of the increase of his government and of peace. There will be no end and on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish and to uphold it with justice and righteousness. This is Jesus and this is the fulfillment of course of two Samuel seven tomorrow, Isaiah chapter 11, see you on Wednesday. Welcome to Wednesday's reading in Isaiah chapter 11. This is easily one of the most powerful messianic prophecies in all of the Bible from the fallen tree of the house of David. And of course, as we read at the end of the year, at the time when Judah doesn't even have a king, it's just a pitiful little province with a governor. We wonder about that. Second Samuel seven promise, where is the king in the line of David? But from the fallen tree of the house of David, there would come a unique king over all the world, the ruler of rulers, the king of kings and Lord of lords, and the spirit of the Lord. Verse two shall rest upon him. He is unique. He has the spirit of God upon him, giving him every endowment needed to be not only the king of kings and Lord of lords, but to be a good and great and wonderful king. He does not judge by what his eyes see. He doesn't judge by appearance verse three, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth. Once again, social justice themes come to the front. This king will reach out to those who are being oppressed and those who are being put down his kingdom will be marked by peace and security for all as he strikes the earth with the WR of his mouth, putting down the enemies of God. He is about righteousness and faithfulness and he will bring about a time not of literal paradise on earth, but instead a wonderful time when the gospel brings peace between men and God. This is portrayed verses six to nine as the wolf dwelling with the lamb and the leopard line down with the young goat and so forth. But of course that's not literal anymore than a rod in Jesus's mouth. In verse four is literal. This is a picture of peace. And Paul identifies verse 10 in that day. He says, that's going on right now. Romans 15 and verse 12. It is the time of the gospel and the gospel calls all who will, and of course not all are going to be willing to come. Paul talks about that in Romans as well, but all who will can come to the Lord verses 11 to 16, the idea of God calling all nations with the gospel. What an important idea that is. That's an idea that the Jews seem to have completely missed and as we've studied in our Wednesday night Bible class, that gives Paul so much grief 'cause the Jews aren't interested in all nations coming to God. They want to be the only ones who come to the Lord. That was never God's plan. Read the book of Isaiah tomorrow, Isaiah 40, see you then. Welcome to Thursday and welcome to Isaiah 40. This is an amazing and phenomenal chapter, maybe one of my favorites in the book of Isaiah. It launches the second half of the book while the first part of the book of Isaiah speaks of judgment and destruction due to wickedness and sin. The book now looks past those dark days to a time of comfort to a time when God will heal and bless his people again. And the opening words of verse one, set the tone for the rest of the book. Comfort. God is going to comfort his people. God is doing something great and new verses three, four and five versus that John the Baptist fulfills don't marvel at such a word and think, well that just PO can't possibly happen. Things are too low, things are too beat up. It's never gonna occur . No God is great and powerful and this chapter celebrates the greatness of God. Verses nine to 31. Go on and on and on about how magnificent and truly awesome and I use try to use that word advisedly. Somebody catches a football, somebody shoots a three point shot. That's not awesome, at least not in the biblical sense, awesome is God. God in Isaiah 40 is portrayed as being incredibly awesome beyond even our imagination. A huge part of that note, verse 12, verse 18, verse 25 is the uniqueness of God. God is absolutely alone. There is no one and there is nothing like God. If you will underline those verses in your Bible, and particularly if you're reading in Isaiah, you'll continue to look for those verses you'll find that's a big theme in the second part of the book of Isaiah. Then finally the end of the chapter talks about how God renews and strengthens the weak verses 29, 30 and 31. Maybe we read all of this about the greatness of God and how he holds the universe in his hand and no one can compare to God and we think, wow, I'm just nothing. I'm a I'm , I'm a speck on a piece of dust spiraling through endless galaxies. Surely God doesn't notice me or know me or care about me. And Isaiah says, that's wrong. God knows exactly who you are. God knows exactly where you are. God knows exactly what you need and God will help you put your hope in this God, this incredible God of Isaiah 40. See you tomorrow for Isaiah 53. As we conclude this year's wonderful reading schedule in the prophets. So our last reading in our drawing near to God through the prophets reading schedule is from Isaiah 53. How appropriate and how helpful. Now I preached on this Sunday in the 9:00 AM hour, just love that. Got to preach on the cross in the 9:00 AM hour and preach from Philippians two about the birth of Jesus in the 10 40 hour. We got the cross we , we got the incarnation, got it all in one Sunday. So I hope you have the notes from Sunday about Isaiah 53 that will help you. I'll try to keep this short. Just remember from Isaiah 53 really begins in Isaiah 52, the first tanza begins in verse 13. This text is explicitly applied to Jesus a number of times in the New Testament. So there is no doubt who the servant is, the arm of the Lord. Then in 53, 1, that's the strength of God. Arm of the Lord stands for the strength of God. He grows up like a young plant. It's a useless plant. Maybe in your yard you've seen uh , maybe like a little tree, a little sapling suddenly SPRs up from a, from an acre that got dropped there and it got buried somehow and watered and up comes. But you know it's not gonna last. It's not gonna grow into a mighty oak. It's not gonna be a great tree. No, it looks like nothing is going to amount to this. He's not attractive. The Messiah is not handsome. No one comes to Jesus because he's, his physical appearance is so appealing. Instead, he is the opposite of what people want. He's a man of sorrows. He's acquainted with grief and in fact, verses four or five and six really are the center stanza and represent the center of the Messiah's work. He bears the punishment for our sins. And the key here is we think he deserves it. We think he's getting what he deserves. He is a bad man. He is a fake. He is not who he claimed to be. He's pulling people away from God and away from true religion. He deserves what he got. That's what people say about Jesus. He was oppressed and he was afflicted. He opened not his mouth. Verse seven, he is the voluntary sacrifice for our sins. He is a willing victim and please underline in your Bible in verses four, five and six, our grief, our sorrows, we esteemed our transgressions. This is as much about you and me as it is about the first century audience that screamed away with him and crucify him. Then the song ends in verses 10 to 12, the way that it began shouting for joy and exalting the servant. This is the work of of God. And that is ultimately what is happening. And there is certainly reference here to the results of his sacrifice. Spiritual posterity. We'll see his offspring, the new Israel. His days are prolonged a reference to his resurrection and he accomplishes God's purposes. He is our substitute. He is the one time sacrifice making atonement for all. Verse 11, he is the source of our righteousness because we can only be right when we are forgiven and without the cross that couldn't and wouldn't happen. And so the servant is glorified for his saving work. You just can't say enough about Isaiah 53 preached on it Sunday reading it now. It's an incredible and powerful, powerful prophecy, specific and explicit of who Jesus is and what he does. And most of all what it must mean for you and I, for we would be lost without Jesus. We esteemed him stricken. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. The Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all . We draw near to God through Jesus Christ, who is the one who makes it possible for us to draw near to God. I hope this reading schedule this year has been a blessing to you. I know it has been to me and I'm excited about where we're going next year because we're gonna keep our eyes on Jesus through the writings of Peter and John. And in fact, on Sunday in the 10 40 hour, Lord willing, Jonathan go lightly and I are just gonna talk about our reading schedule this year and what we gain from talking about the prophets and look forward to next year as we think about what Peter and John can show us and tell us about Jesus the Christ. It's been a great year in the Old Testament and it will be a great year in the New Testament. And that concludes the podcast for today and of course for the year. How about that? Thank you for listening. I appreciate so much. The good comments and the good feedback that I get from the podcast was in Saratoga a couple of weeks ago and a lady talked with me, a couple of folks talked with me about listening to the podcast and about doing the Bible reading with us. And so whether you're a member at Westside or whether you are somewhere else in this country or around the globe and you're able to read the Bible and work along with us, we're just glad to have you . And like I said, we're looking forward so much to next year in this wonderful reading schedule which will take us deeply into the life of Christ through the eyes of Peter and John. If you like the Monday Morning Coffee podcast, of course you need to give us a rating, give us a review that really helps more people find it. And of course you should subscribe or follow so that it will download automatically into your smartphone or digital device the best thing to do. And oh , especially right now, people are starting to think about New Year's and New Year's resolutions. Tell somebody about the show so that they'll start reading the Bible with you in 2024. So there you go. What a great year it's been. I'll see you next year, <laugh> , how about that? That's probably the oldest New Year's joke ever. But I will see you next year 'cause Monday we'll be a beginning of a brand new year and I will see you in 2024. Until then, may your coffee be delightful. I hope your Friday is wonderful and that the Lord is with you today all day. I'm Mark Roberts and I want to go to heaven and I want you to come to 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.