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Robert Woodyard

A Walk Through the Bible – Habakkuk and the Verse that Changes Everything

Scripture Texts:  Habakkuk 1:1-5; 2:2-4, 20; Romans 1:16-17

Introduction.

In our evening services here at First CRC I am preaching through the 66 books of the Bible one book at a time.  In the glorious and divine providence of God we just happen to come to the book of Habakkuk tonight which turns out to have a key connection to the Reformation and so it is fitting for tonight’s service.  I love when God does cool providential things.  Which of course He is doing all the time, and sometimes we notice.

Habakkuk.

Habakkuk is unique among the prophetic books.  Habakkuk contains no direct message from God to God’s people.

The prophecy of Habakkuk reads like a prayer journal.  It is a Q and A session with God.  Habakkuk looks at the problems of his day, the problems of his nation and his people, the struggles of life and he writes his questions, his prayers, his urgent pleadings with God and God’s answers.  God and he are the only two characters in the book.

Habakkuk doesn’t just speak his prophecy, he lives it.  This is personal and real for him.  Babylon is looming over Jerusalem and Judah, destruction is imminent.  Habakkuk cries out in despair over the fate of the righteous.

Habakkuk is our brother, he’s one of us.  He lives in troubling times and pleads with God for understanding.  Secular forces are at work, threating to undo them.  What can the righteous do?

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A Walk Through the Bible – Nahum

Scripture Texts: Nahum 1:1-3; Nahum 1:7-8; Nahum 1:15; Nahum 3:8-10; Nahum 3:18-19

Introduction.

Jonah and Nahum.  Two books, two prophecies, two revelations of the full character of God, His goodness and His severity, the oceanic breadth of His mercy and the volcanic heat of His judgment.

We cheer the salvation of a city in Jonah only to shudder at the annihilation of the same city a century and a half later in Nahum.

Nahum did not write this book as a warning or “call to repentance” for the people of Nineveh.  Nahum means comfort.  How is God’s judgment on Assyria and Nineveh a comfort?  Nahum was telling the people of Judah to not despair because God had pronounced judgment and the Assyrians would soon be getting just what they deserved.

God is just and faithful to His promises and this means relief and joy to those living in fear of enemies.  Nineveh’s destruction is linked to the character and nature of God.  Evil doers of every age face the same fate.

Two themes, the destruction of God’s enemies and the salvation of God’s people.  This is how the kingdom of God will be realized.  Without the defeat of His enemies there is no real peace.

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Live in Harmony with One Another

Scripture Texts: Romans 12:13-16

Romans 12 is how we live when we have been forgiven and saved by the blood of Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit and are making daily progress in being conformed to the likeness of Jesus.

Romans 12 is how we live when we have been overwhelmed by how much we don’t deserve God’s mercy and grace, and then experience His overwhelming love and kindness.

Romans 12 is genuine love for God expressed in genuine love for each other.

Romans 12 is how we live when we have been transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Becoming a Romans 12 Christian is not difficult, it is impossible!  It is supernatural.  It is enabled and empowered by the Holy Spirit.  It is pursued in humble dependence and constant prayer.  The ability to do the Christian life comes from what God has already done.

This is not a list of boxes to check.  This is a description of the character of a person the Holy Spirit has gotten hold of and a church in which the Holy Spirit is working and transforming.

A person who lives and speaks and acts in this way will be a living example of Jesus among their friends, family, co-workers.  Like the early Christians people will say they have been with Jesus.

Resist the temptation to be discouraged over how short of the mark you fall.  That means you are looking to yourself and your ability to live up to the Gospel.  Rejoice in the hope of the promises of God, be patient in the struggle, in the trials and testings, be constant in prayer, daily depending on God.  Martin Luther said, “To progress in the Christian life is always to begin again.”  Help your children to understand this.

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Let Love Be Genuine IV

Scripture Texts: Romans 12:9-13

Introduction.

This morning we will focus on the three exhortations, this triad of imperatives in verse 12.  This verse is like a vein of gold, it is rich in wisdom and instruction, food for our souls.

Once again Paul is exhorting the Christians in the church in Rome, and it is timeless so it is for us as well.  Why is Paul saying these things?  Because they are hard to do.  If this was easy, if everyone was doing them, it wouldn’t be necessary to remind us.

These three commands are hard.  I know that, I find them hard to do.  I do not preach to you as one who has arrived or has accomplished these things.  I am like Paul in Philippians 3,

Philippians 3:12-14 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

I preach not from confidence in my own flesh and ability, but from confidence in the truth of God’s Word and the power of the Holy Spirit to do this, to bring it to completion.  Only those who already have Christ and His Holy Spirit can rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

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A Walk Through the Bible – Micah

Scripture Texts: Micah 1:1-7; 6:6-8; 7:7-9

Introduction.

This evening marks the half point through the 66 books of the Bible.  Lord willing we will finish the 39 book of the OT before Advent.

We have seen with some of the Minor Prophets that there is no information about the prophet, where he’s from, what time period he prophesied in and to whom he was prophesying.   Micah answers all those questions in the first verse.

 

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A Walk Through the Bible – Jonah

Text for Sermon: Jonah 1:1-3, 17; 2:1-2, 9-10; 3:10; 4:1-1

Introduction.

The prophecy of Jonah is unique among the prophetic books for several reasons.  It’s the only prophecy directed toward the life of a prophet rather than his message.  It contains only one sentence of prophecy, the rest is narrative like we read about Elijah or Elisha.

It’s different from all the other Minor Prophets in that it’s completely autobiographical.  It tells the story of one prophet and his relationship with God.  And it’s not a flattering story, which once again argues for the authenticity of God’s Word.  It tells the truth and doesn’t whitewash reality.

The first great surprise in this little book is “But Jonah…”  Wait, what’s this?  God told a prophet to do something, and he fled from the presence of the Lord heading west instead of east.  Jonah is the only prophet of God in all of Scripture who directly disobeyed God’s Word.  But Jonah’s disobedience is not his only sin.  There is something underlying his disobedience, a disease of which this disobedience is a symptom.

The four chapters of Jonah divide neatly in half.  The first two chapters are about his first divine call to prophesy against Nineveh and the second two chapters are about his second divine call to prophesy against Nineveh.

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Let Love Be Genuine III

Scripture Texts: Romans 12:9-12

Introduction.

I continue to urge you to read Romans 12:9-21 every day, in your own devotions and with your family at dinner.  Talk about it.  Stir it up.  Drink from this well of wisdom for life.

Paul won’t let any of us be content with where we are.  He relentlessly pushes us to not be conformed to the way the world acts and thinks, but to be truly transformed by the renewing of our minds by the Holy Spirit, to keep growing and becoming more like Christ.

 

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Let Love Be Genuine II

Scripture Texts: Romans 12:9-13

Therefore, by the mercies of God, therefore because of the mercies of God, therefore because of the superabounding saving grace of God that overcomes all our sin, therefore because of the Gospel of God’s redeeming love, who loved us even while we were yet sinners, therefore let us be changed and transformed into the character and likeness of Him who sacrificed everything for us, and now by His Spirit in us enables us to present our bodies, our lives as living sacrifices holy and acceptable to God.

How do we do that?  By no longer being conformed to the ways of the world but transformed by the renewing of our minds.  And what does that look like?  Let me count the ways, twenty-five ways, twenty-five imperative exhortations of what it means to be a follower of Jesus, a disciple of Christ.  If you are infected by the Gospel, these are the symptoms you will have.

I hope you have been reading Romans 12:9-21 at your dinner table every night, or most nights.  Let me urge you to continue that for the rest of September.  And mix up the translations.  If you don’t have different translations in your home, just Google them and print them out.

Please talk about these things at home, with your spouse, with your children.  This is vastly more important than anything on the news, in the social media, in politics, in sports.  Talk about these things, what they mean, what they don’t mean.  Chase down the cross references in your Bible.

Soak in this passage, drink deeply from this well of life-giving and life-changing water.

Be humbled by how far short you fall, but be hopeful in the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.  Come to this passage at just such a time as this in your life and in the life of our flock.  God has us all here right now for a reason.  Let him who has ears to hear, hear what the Spirit is saying.

The Christians in the church in Rome were a diverse mix of young and old, rich and poor, slaves and free, Gentiles and Jews, racially and ethnically divided, learning how to love each other.

Let love be genuine, let your love be without hypocrisy, not fake but authentic, for everyone.  Where is the greatest demonstration of love in the Bible?  The cross, right.  And what does that tell us about love?  That love is way more than a feeling.  Love is an action.

 

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A Walk Through the Bible – Obadiah

Scripture Texts: Obadiah 1:1-4, 10, 12, 15, 18

Introduction.

There are five one-chapter books in the Bible, a letter from Paul to Philemon, the second and third of John’s three letters, Jude and Obadiah.  Obadiah the shortest book in the OT and the least read.

Obadiah is the obscure prophet, we know nothing of this background, family, history or location.  His name means servant of God, and he does it well, staying in the background.

Psalm 84:10 I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

None of the prophets had any claim on fame or a claim on God’s favor.  None of them were important or worthy of their calling.  God called them first and then gave them His words to say.  To praise a prophet is like praising the pipes that bring the water into our homes or praising the wires that bring the electricity.  They are simply conduits, carriers, messengers.

They could no more claim credit for being a prophet than we can claim credit for being Christians.  We didn’t do anything.  We are saved by grace.  The service any of us gives is all grace, the goodness of God.

Obadiah also has the shortest introduction, just two words in Hebrew, “Vision Obadiah.”  The prophets were seers before they were sayers.  They had a supernatural revelation from God before they dared say, “Thus says the Lord.”  That is the only important thing in the book.

You may be small or unimportant or laboring in insignificance.  You may be the least of the Minor Prophets, but if your message begins with “Thus says the Lord God” that is significance enough.  If you have God’s Word in your heart and on your lips, your service will be great.

Like Jonah which is focused entirely on the city of Nineveh, Obadiah is focused entirely on the country of Edom, the nation to the east of Judah across the Dead Sea.

 

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Let Love Be Genuine

Scripture Texts: Romans 12:9-13

We just spent five weeks discussing our different spiritual gifts.  Gifts given to each Christian by the Holy Spirit for serving the body for the common good of all and for the glory of God.  Now Paul speaks to us about how we are to get along together while serving.  How should we relate, how should we behave?  What does Christlikeness look like in the midst of Spirit-giftedness?

The rest of chapter twelve is like running into a buzz saw.  Remember what I said when we started chapter twelve about the difference between the indicative mood and the imperative mood in grammar.  The indicative mood states a fact, it says this is true.  The imperative says this must be done.

Romans 1-11 were almost entirely in the indicative mood, telling us truth about what God has said and done, Paul gave us the Gospel.  Romans 12-15 tells us what we must now do in response to what God has done.  God’s done is the fuel for our doing.  The fire for doing the Christian life comes from being soaked in the lighter fluid of what God has already done.

Romans 12:1 started with “Therefore, in light of the mercies of God, now present your bodies as a living sacrifice.”  And this is what that looks like in spades.

25 authoritative imperatives, rapid fire, one after another.  Like when mom and dad leave the kids with a babysitter.

25 applications.  The problem with all these exhortations is they are not too hard to understand.  They are too plain, clear, straightforward, understandable.  We would rather they were hard to figure out so we could have an excuse for not obeying them.

This is not a list of rules.  This is a description of Christian character.  I was recently asked to write a character reference for a person applying for a job.  If someone was writing one for you, this is a list of things they should write about you as a Christian.

When we love God, when we are changed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, this is what it looks like.  This is what life looks like when Christ has become the foundation and summation of all your hopes.  We do this because of what He has done.

These should be read slowly, thoughtfully, prayerfully.  Seriously mediate on and pray over these verses these next few weeks.  Read them at your dinner table each night, talk about them, read them in your own private devotions.  Read different translations.  Soak in this in September.

 

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A Walk Through the Bible – Amos

Scripture Texts: Amos 1:1-2; 2:4-8; 3:7-8; 5:24

Mr. Beaver said, “He’ll be coming and going.  One day you’ll see him and another you won’t.  He doesn’t like being tied down–and of course he has other countries to attend to.  It’s quite all right.  He’ll often drop in.  Only you mustn’t press him.  He’s wild, you know.  Not like a tame lion.”

Lucy said, “Is he – quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”  “That you will dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”  “Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.  “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you?  Who said anything about safe?  ‘Course he isn’t safe.  But he’s good.  He’s the King, I tell you.”

“And now,” said Aslan presently, “to business.  I feel I am going to roar.  You had better put your fingers in your ears.”  And they did.  And Aslan stood up and when he opened his mouth to roar his face became so terrible that they did not dare to look at it.  And they saw all the trees in front of him bend before the blast of his roaring as grass bends in a meadow before the wind (C.S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe).

Amos knew a thing or two about things “that go roar in the night” (John Stevenson).

He had been raised on stories of Samson killing a lion with his bare hands and of David killing one with his sling.  Amos was a shepherd , and if there is anything a shepherd dreads, it is the sound of a lion’s roar (v. 2).  He had faced his own lions while out with his sheep.

But this lion was different.  And Amos was his messenger.  God called him out of Tekoa in Judah and sent him north to Bethel in Israel to be the first prophet to speak against Israel.  The Lord, who had been Israel’s shepherd, had now become Israel’s predator.  In the prophecy of Amos, the Lord was roaring.

 

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Having Gifts That Differ: Discerning Your Spiritual Gift

Scripture Texts: Romans 12:4-6

This morning we come to the conclusion of our series on spiritual gifts in Romans 12.  We started with ten truths about spiritual gifts and then six things they are not and shouldn’t be confused with.  Then we considered the three speaking gifts (teaching, exhorting and prophecy), and the four serving gifts (serving, giving, leading and mercy).

We started this series with the story of a Rabbi being questioned by a Roman centurion, “who are you and what are you doing here?”  The Rabbi thought those were such great question that they should be asked of him every day.

That would be a fruitful spiritual discipline, if we were to ask ourselves every day, who are we and what are we doing here?  It might lift us out of the humdrum of our ordinary, earth-centered lives, into the rarer air of the spiritual meaning behind what God is doing in and through us.

Why do you get up every morning?  What are you living for?  Who are you living for?

Is it possible there is more to you and your life than you think or imagine?

Do you know “Who you are and what on earth are you doing here?”

Our text says we are one body in Christ and individually members one of another.  Does that have implications for why we get up and what we do all day?  What does that mean?

Romans 1-11 makes it clear, we are not our own, we did not choose God, He chose us.  It is staggering to consider such undeserved mercy.  You should shake your head in disbelief that God did that.  We are not our own.

You are a member of His body and you are members of each other.  You have a God-ordained place and a part to play.  We are not as independent and autonomous as we like to think.  We need others and others need us.  God wants us to humble ourselves to serve others and be served by others.

We think far too little of our lives and the spiritual gifts God has given to each of us.  And by each one of us I am talking about each of you.  To the student in ninth grade; the single seeking God’s direction for their future; the mom at home with little ones; the man in the barn or shop; the person in the office or on the road; and the widow in the retirement center or care home.

God has called all of us to good works, works of ministry or service in His Church and in the world.  He could have done it Himself, He could have sent angels to do it, but He didn’t.  It is His will that we do the work of building up and edifying the body.

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