Monday Morning Coffee with Mark
Monday Morning Coffee with Mark. A spiritual boost to start the week.
Monday Morning Coffee with Mark
The 5 Toughest Questions - Repentance
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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.
Hello, and welcome to the Westside Church's special Monday Morning Coffee Podcast. On this podcast, our preacher, Mark Roberts, will help you get your week started right with a look back at yesterday's sermon so that we can think of each other and better work the applications into our daily life. Mark will then look forward into this week's album reading so that we can know what to expect and watch for. And he may have some extra bonus clouds from time to time. So we have a cup of coffee and we start the week together on Monday morning coffee with Mark.
SPEAKER_01:Good morning, good morning. Welcome to the Monday Morning Coffee Podcast for Monday, November the 3rd. I'm Mark. I'm holding a great cup of coffee. Yes, this is a really good cup of coffee. This is an Americano right out of the espresso machine. Rolling this morning already. Got some coffee. Got some thoughts about yesterday's sermon. Looking forward to a different kind of weekend Bible reading, kind of moving around a little bit in the Word of God. That's a challenge and that's exciting as we see how important David is all through the scriptures. Lots going on that keeps that energy we had yesterday on Sunday pushing into the week starting on Monday. So grab your Bible, grab your coffee, let's grow together. Yesterday was the second in this series, Five Toughest Questions about Salvation, that I started last week by talking about faith. And yesterday we talked about repentance. I must tell you, I am, I'm just loving the response this series is getting. So many people have talked to me about it and have encouraged me with that. Just some really good comments yesterday about how this is fitting into people's lives and helping people. So let's think for a moment further about repentance. I picked this quote up from somewhere. Let's work on this. Repentance is not just a private thing, it's meant to be lived out in community. James 5.16 reminds us that we can confess our sins to each other so we can be healed. Surrounding ourselves with others who love God helps us see our blind spots, resist temptation, and celebrate progress. Our turning from sin isn't only for us, it can encourage others and point them to God's grace. Find someone you trust. Be honest, and let your ongoing repentance inspire both your walk and theirs. That's a great thought to start the week. James 5, 16. Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Repentance. It's a huge part of the beginning of our Christianity, and it is an ongoing part of our Christianity. Hope those thoughts on repentance helped you yesterday. And now, time for some daily Bible reading. Find your Bible, find Isaiah. We're in Isaiah chapter 11. Isaiah 11, the whole chapter, is the reading for today. This is a beautiful and powerful messianic prophecy, one of the best in all of Scripture, I think. The first several verses, verses 1 to 5, discuss the character of the Messiah's rule. And then I think you get verses 6 to 9, the idea behind the character of the Messiah or the king's subjects. And this is very much about the Messiah coming from the fallen tree of the house of David. You get that in this business of there shall come forth a sheep from the stump of Jesse, verse 1. The idea of the house of David being cut off, think about there not being a king on the throne during the time of the Babylonian captivity, for example. And so there will be a unique and special ruler of rulers who will come from the lineage of David. The sprout will come from that cut-off stump, if you will. God is still working there. But it's not just his lineage that makes him special. Verse 2, the Spirit of the Lord will be upon him, giving him all that he needs to be the ideal king. He does not judge by appearance. Verse 3, he helps the oppressed, verse 4, and that means his kingdom is marked, verses 6, 7, 8, and 9, with security. There is security and peace in his kingdom. Please don't make verse 6, the wolf dwelling with the lamb and so forth. Don't make that any more literal than you would make verse 4, that he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth. Does the Messiah literally have a sword or rod coming out of his mouth? No, that's a figure. And in the same way, we do not expect the cow and the bear, verse 7, to graze together. The maybe in more contemporary terms, the dog and the cat to sit down together. That's not going to happen, although these verses are often misused to refer to some kind of literal paradise on earth during the millennium or something. No, the king is reigning now. The king is reigning now. And Paul identifies that. Verse 10, in that day the root of Jesse, that's quoted in Romans 15, 12 as being part of the gospel age. This is going on right now. God is calling all people, Jew and Gentile, to himself. And unfortunately, not all will come. Verses 14 and 15 tell us that not all want to come to the Lord. Our reading on Monday, Isaiah chapter 11. It is Tuesday. It's Tuesday, and today our reading is Revelation, the fifth chapter. This is one of my favorite chapters in the book of Revelation. I love Revelation chapter 5. I'm currently writing my next book on the book of Revelation, and I'm just soaking deeply in Revelation. It's coming out of every pore, so I was really excited to see that we're going to read that today. I should pass along to Westsiders. There's no Zoom call tonight because the elders meet on Tuesday. I'm meeting with them tonight, so there'll be no Zoom call, but there's lots to think about here in Revelation, the fifth chapter. Maybe we'll talk about that some on Facebook or in other options and so forth. But this is the place where the where the action really gets ramped up here. The focus moves from God the Father enthroned in heaven to what is God doing? What is happening here upon this earth? What what is the effect of the events in heaven upon the inhabitants of the earth? And that begins with John seeing a sealed scroll in verse one. And this is a great place to notice that you can't take the book of Revelation literally. How can John see that the scroll is written within and on the back sealed? How does he know it's written inside if it's all sealed up? This is this is again, like I said, a great place to see. You don't overthink the book of Revelation. You can't do that. It'll just make a huge mess. He just knows. He just sees these things and he just knows these things. And then the mighty angel says, Who can do this? Who can open the scroll? Which of course John would, hey, what's in there? I want to see it open. What's going on? The scroll seems to represent, there are lots of options given by various scholars and writers, but it seems to represent the plan of God, what God is doing. And the call here, is there anyone worthy to execute the plan of God? And the answer to that is the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David. That, the lion of the tribe of David, is from Genesis chapter 49, verses 9 to 12, where Jacob prophesies about Judah's supremacy among his brothers. And then, of course, the root of David. That's from yesterday's reading. Isaiah 11, chapter, uh, chap more coffee. More coffee. Isaiah 11 and verse 10. Why is that so difficult to say? And you should know that there are several apocalyptic texts that are circulating during the time of the book of Revelation that identify Genesis 49 and Isaiah 11 as being very messianic. And let me just say this about apocalyptic text. There's a lot of material in the New Testament world that sounds like the book of Revelation. It does not claim to be inspired, it's not trying to be inspired, but it does serve to give us a lot of clues as to how to deal with this kind of material. We don't do a great job sometimes dealing with the book of Revelation. We're just not familiar with the sort of material the book of Revelation is. People do overthink it and try to make something out of every detail. But here comes the lion, the tribe of Judah from the root of David, and he is between verse 6, the throne, and the four living creatures, and the between there. That's some difficult text there in the Greek. And what you need to see is that the lamb is in the center of the praise scene that's going on. In Revelation 4, the throne is in the center, and God the Father is being praised. Now the lamb is in the center, he is being praised. And I keep saying lamb, you may be thinking, I thought it was a lion. But he turns and looks, verse 6, and sees a lamb. And this is this is classic Revelation. I I heard that it was going to be a lion, but when I turned and looked, it was a lamb. And it's not any lamb, it is a lamb standing as though it had been slain. Slain here is the word for slaughtered in the Greek. And it is the word that's used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament in Isaiah 53 for the slaughtered lamb. So this lamb has been sacrificed, his throat would be cut. This is the lamb of God, this is the lion. And notice here, the text never says it's Jesus. And we all know it's Jesus, don't we? That's a great, great clue to using the book of Revelation. People try to discern all these details, and like I said, they're overthinking it and so forth. When you need to know what something stands for, you'll know. You'll know. John will make sure that you know. He doesn't even have to say, hey, look at his name tag. It's Jesus. We know this is Jesus. He takes the scroll, and then everybody worships him. The host of heavens in verse 8, every tribe and language and people and nation, which is a big emphasis in the book of Revelation, they all worship him. And what one writer says here is so helpful, what is implicit now, what has been implicit now becomes explicit. God on the throne and the Lamb are inextricably joined together as the objects of Christian worship. The Lamb and the Father are equal. They are both to be worshipped. And verse 10 says, and there's a host of reasons here why the Lamb can be worshipped, but part of that is you have made them a kingdom and priest to our God, and they shall reign upon the earth. One of the big keys in the book of Revelation is not just that the Lamb is victorious, but that if you stand with the Lamb, you will be victorious. Those who are on the lion lamb side, they win. They are kingdoms and priests, and they shall reign upon the earth. The book of Revelation is written, I believe, primarily to assure the saints, you will win. You will be victorious if you stand with Jesus. Stand with the Lamb. In fact, the name Jesus is not used that much in the book of Revelation. He's almost always referred to as the Lamb. Everyone says, verse 13, to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever. What a scene. What a scene that you and I want to be part of. We want to be victorious with the Lamb. Our reading for Tuesday. Revelation chapter 5. Welcome to Wednesday. Welcome to Wednesday. And we are starting a new section of our daily Bible reading schedule. For the next several weeks, we will be exclusively in the Psalms. In the Psalms. And on Sunday in the 9 a.m., I talked about savoring the Psalms, how to enjoy the Psalms. If you were not there in the 9, maybe you'd want to review that lesson. It will really help you. The Psalms are amazing and they're wonderful, but they're they're not like anything that you're going to read on Facebook. So need maybe a few pointers and some ideas here, but this really is a great place to connect with David because in the Psalms, David shares his heart. We just get a great look at the inner man, who David really is, or depending upon who the psalmist is, who that psalmist is. But they all have that flavor of David, and they all sound like David, and they're all moving in that same kind of direction. So let's work on Psalm 63 today. The reading for Wednesday is Psalm 63, O God, you are my God. Earnestly I seek you, and my soul thirst for you, my flesh faints for you as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I think this is a lament psalm. It is a cry for God's help. We see a little bit of that at the end where there is some discussion of enemies in verse 9, for example. But mostly this is about the depth of relationship that David has with God. David is not content at all with checkbox religion. I'm going to go do my religious thing, and then I get back to my regular life, do what I want to do. No. David is interested in doing what God wants him to do. And you get some of that immediately, verse 2, when he starts thinking about improving his relationship with God. He thinks about worship in verse 2, the power and the glory of God. That's a verse that I have in green. I mark in the Psalms in green pencil. The verses that are just beautiful. Sometimes I can just page through the Psalms, get a cup of coffee, and just page through the Psalms and just note green verses, and it just lifts up my whole soul. Verse 5, my soul will be satisfied is with rich and fat food. Now, wow, nutritionally that's a disaster for health conscious Americans in 2025. We all you're supposed to watch your intake of saturated fat. The imagery here is just super abundance, more than enough. And one translation has rich feast, another one has the riches of foods. I suppose the Mark Roberts International East Texas version would say, My soul will be satisfied with barbecue and peach cobbler with a side of banana pudding. And you understand then the metaphor, just the idea that God fills my life up and makes it good. You have been my help, verse 7. The whole concept here is of the goodness of God. God is good, and he has been good to David. And in fact, then David turns his attention to his enemies, beginning in verse 10. And he says, verse 9, and then in verse 10, he says, They shall be given over to the power of the sword. God will take care of my enemies. God will take care of those who are seeking my life. I'm going to trust in God because he's so good to me, the king, verse 11, shall rejoice in God. This is about the depth of relationship that David has with God, his joy in God, his happiness in God, because God is good. A reading for Wednesday, Psalm 63. It is Thursday. It's Thursday, and today we're reading the 64th Psalm. Full disclosure here, lots going on this morning, and I let my coffee get cold, and then I did a terrible thing. I put it in the microwave. Don't microwave your coffee. It never tastes as good, does it? Do you know why that is? That's because all that great coffee smell, that's actually little molecules of coffee jumping out of the cup and flying around in the atmosphere. They're being vaporized. I I think the actual chemistry term for that is sublimating. I need to ask my dad about that. But the coffee is not the same. It is not the same as it cools and coffee escapes out of the mug. So then you honk it in the microwave, you nuke it, and it tastes kind of burned and gross. But you know what? It's better than no coffee at all. So let's have some coffee. There we go. And wow, not as good as fresh. And now we're thinking about the 64th Psalm. We are certain what kind of psalm this is. This is a lament. Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint, verse 1. So now you know, yes, this is a lament, a cry to God for help, but it is a brighter lament. There is unwavering faith that God will respond, and that does make it a little bit more optimistic than some laments that are in the Psalms. One scholar said he would classify this as a protective psalm. Protective psalms contain prayers to Jehovah against an imminent danger and are positioned before the fuel, full fury of the distress comes. And the tone of these psalms is more optimistic than other laments. So notice here we get the idea of suddenly and unexpectedly or quickly. Verse 4, the enemies attack suddenly, but then verse 7, God answers just as suddenly. So the breakdown here is there's a cry for help, verse 1. Then evil men suddenly attack, verses 2 to 6. And you'll notice here verses 5 and 6 really step up the description. They're not just opposed to the innocent, but they are crafty. They are dangerous. They foolishly believe, verse 5, that they can commit the perfect crime, that they are accountable to no one, no one will see. But God goes to work, verses 7, 8, 9, and 10. God rescues just as suddenly as these evil men have attacked, and God shoots his arrows. One writer said, A greater archer than they shall take sure aim. Isn't that so? And so their sin just boomeranges right back onto them. What they had planned to do, God does to them. The punishment fits the crime. Psalm 64, a lament with a strong note of confidence. Our reading for Thursday, Psalm 64. It is Friday. It is Friday. And today we're reading the 69th Psalm. Now, we read the 69th Psalm two weeks ago in connection with Acts chapter 1, giving particular attention to verse 25 that mentions Judas Iscariot. May there can't be a desolation. Let no one dwell in their tents. Peter makes use of that and applies it to Judas Iscariot. We talked about that then. In fact, I worked through this entire Psalm in that week. So I hope you have some notes there from Psalm 69. This is a lament, but is a special lament because this is suffering because I am righteous. And so here's the breakdown. There's the plea and complaint, verses 1 to 4. The reason for troubles, verses 5 to 13. Verse 7 is the key idea. You want to make note of that, for it is for your sake that I have borne reproach that dishonor has covered my face. And then in the second stanza, the complaint is renewed, verses 14 to 21, starting over again. And then there is this imprecation section, a section that asks for a curse upon the enemies, verses 22 to 28. And then finally an expression of confidence, verses 29 to 36. It is a classic lament, contains all the features of a good lament. There's prayer and plea for help. There's a clear discussion of what's going on, the complaint. There's some confession notes there. And we talked a little bit here on the Zoom call when we talked about Psalm 69 about maybe these people are hacking on David because of his public repentance, maybe because of the sin with Bathsheba. And so maybe his repentance is being mocked and made fun of. That may be working here, that may be part of what's going on. Work down through this psalm and especially enjoy this part where there's this expression of confidence. The Lord hears the needy, does not despise his own people who are prisoners. Let the heavens and earth praise him. Verse 33 and verse 34. Wonderful, wonderful praise of God who hears and answers our laments, our pleas for help. The reading for Friday, Psalm 69. Well, there you go. That's the podcast for the week. I appreciate you listening. Don't heat your coffee in the microwave. That's the big takeaway from this week's podcast. Oh, I hope that's not the big takeaway from this week's podcast. I certainly do appreciate your listening. I appreciate your help and encouragement about the podcast. If you have questions about daily Bible reading, remember to turn those in for QA. You can email those to me or Facebook message them to me, put them on my desk. Good questions make for good QA. We're starting the month. We'll be working all through the Psalms all this month. So it's been a joy to be in the Word of God with you this week. I'm Mark Roberts. I want to go to heaven and I want you to come too. I'll see you on Monday with a cup of coffee.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks for listening to the Westside Church of Christ podcast, Monday Morning Coffee with Mark. For more information about Westside, you can connect with us through our website, just Christians.com, and our Facebook page. Our music is from Upbeat.io. That's Upbeat with two P's, U-P-P-P-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.