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8.7.22 Nahum 1:1 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Nahum chapter 1 and verse 1, we'll read our text and then pray and begin. It says, an oracle concerning Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nahum of Elkash. And Father God in heaven, your name is holy. You are set apart and righteous. You are all together different than we are. And we ask that you would give us understanding as we open your word, for it is the very food that our souls need.
• 0:33
  And we beseech your forgiveness and lean upon your grace for the times when we fail. Restore to us the joy of our salvation in your Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, church. Well, take your Bible ribbon, if you would. There it is. And put it in Nahum chapter 1 so that it's easy to find again. And then turn with me, if you would, to Joshua.
• 1:02
  Chapter 24, Joshua 24, a hard left turn in your Bibles. Joshua 24, the very last chapter of the book of Joshua. The context of Joshua chapter 4 is that Joshua, at the end of his life, has now gathered the entire assembly of Israel together in one place. He will preach to them one more sermon. These will be his parting words as he prepares. For death the conquest is over. The promised land has been given to the people.
• 1:32
  And so he gathers them together to offer them one more challenge. And in Joshua 24 and verse 14, you can imagine this old man standing up and preaching with fervor one more time to this gathered people. And he says, now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your father served beyond the river and in Egypt and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve.
• 2:03
  Whether the gods your father served in the region beyond the river or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. And this final statement of verse 15 is the most famous statement that Joshua probably ever made. In fact, most of us probably have this statement hanging somewhere in our houses. It's on a refrigerator magnet or it's some crocheted thing that somebody gave to you one time and it's hanging there or it's written on some Thomas Kinkade painting above your bed or above your fireplace, right? It's there somewhere.
• 2:33
  When Joshua looks out across that ocean of people and says, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. You who have kids know that raising kids is weird. When Hallie was only a couple of months pregnant with Pierce and our oldest, we scheduled our first sonogram. The technician helping us was an older woman, a little bit socially awkward.
• 3:02
  I was 26 years old. I had no idea what I was doing. I, in fact, had never even seen most of the instruments that she was slinging around that day. And so I was just standing there, kind of in a befuddled stupor. And at one point, she began giving me parenting advice.
• 3:20
  And I was eager to receive it at first, because like I said, I had never done any of this. I had never really even been around babies, let alone my own, okay? And so I had no clue what was going on, and so I was eager for advice at the time. But then she said, and if you have a son, can I just strongly encourage you not to have him circumcised? That's weird.
• 3:46
  And I figured she was going to recite some medical explanation, but then she continued, I just firmly believe that is a decision that your sons should make for themselves when they are older. I thought, wait, what? You're not giving me medical advice. You're giving me spiritual advice. And so I just grinned and nodded, but I was thinking to myself, you know, you wouldn't believe.
• 4:17
  what i'm gonna force on my kids you you would be so offended if i told you how heavy-handed a parent i am about to be i will choose everything for them i will choose their school i will choose their church and their friends i will choose their food i will choose their bedtimes i will choose the movies that they watch i will choose their favorite sports teams
• 4:45
  I will choose their hobbies and yes, most importantly, I will choose their God. All of these will be chosen by me. That encounter that day inspired me to consider the kind of impact and influence I could actually have on my kids. It is total control. And so my mind just began to race with all of the possibilities.
• 5:14
  We at one point thought about naming Pearson Isaac. I always liked the name Isaac. But then I joked with my wife, I really did, this is a true story, I thought about naming him Isaac and spelling it Isaac, but then telling him that it's actually pronounced Roy. And so when he goes to kindergarten, and that first day of kindergarten, they're going through the roll, and the teacher says Isaac Gardner, he would raise his hand and say it's actually pronounced Roy. I thought that would be the funniest thing.
• 5:42
  I thought about telling him, teaching him that forks are spoons and spoons are forks. I really did. Hallie convinced me, however, that all of my ideas were bad ones. I, along with the help of my wife, raised three humans who depended upon us for their survival and who otherwise would have perished. Not only were we responsible for their survival, we were also responsible for their education, for shaping their worldview. I mean, literally training them in everything.
• 6:16
  I would teach my sons about respect and authority. I would be the one who would teach them about music and art and beauty and integrity. I would be the one who would teach them about taxes and hard work, about laws and ethics, about character. I would be the one who would teach them about the Lord of heaven and hell and about sin and salvation. All of these things were shaped in our sons.
• 6:44
  by my wife and i and you may wonder well why why so heavy-handed why so selective why so choosy and picky why so strict i mean that's the word that is often used of parenting why did we force all of those things on our sons now can i tell you there were times when we were and our parenting style was ridiculed it was ridiculed by our friends and our neighbors it was ridiculed by our own family at times our family came along just said man
• 7:16
  What are you guys doing? Our boys were at times ridiculed by classmates or by the neighbor's kids or by their teammates because of their lack of options regarding the friends that they had or the schools that they attended or the movies that they were not allowed to watch. Hallie and I were frequently asked why. And so let me ask you, church, why? Why were we so picky? Was it because we do not love our sons? Or was it because we actually do?
• 7:48
  love our sons and we want what is best for them in fact i would go so far as to say that parents who do not train their children in the way they should go and just allow them to make whatever decisions they want regarding their lives and especially to make their own choices regarding heaven and hell ultimately do not love their kids when joshua
• 8:10
  stood up that day so many years ago thousands now of years ago and stood up and made that declaration understand church he wasn't just making a declaration on his own behalf do you see his words but as for me i will serve the lord that's not what he said he said but as for me and my house
• 8:33
  We will serve the Lord and consider the generational implication of that statement. Joshua at the time, we find in the next chapter, Joshua at the time was 110 years old, which means that his kids were 90. Can you imagine that? His grandkids were 70. His great-grandkids were 50. His great-great-grandkids were 30. And his great-great-great-grandkids were 10.
• 9:01
  Just assuming a 20-year generation, right? So when he stood up and he said, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. He was making a generational decision on behalf of the people who lived in his house. Anyone who shares my address, we will serve the Lord. Anyone who eats out of my refrigerator, that comes at a cost, right? Food is freely given. But I expect something in return.
• 9:33
  This is the God that our family will serve. And you see there that Joshua put before the people a choice. Will you and your family serve the Lord or will you worship the false gods he brought with you? And in Joshua 24 and verse 24, if you just look across the page, the people's response is clear. The people said to Joshua,
• 9:54
  The Lord our God we will serve and his voice we will obey. And so this entire generation of people said, yes, Joshua, we are on board. That is the God we choose. Turn one page to the right. It's probably one page, but go to Judges chapter 2 and verse 6. You find this is the same assembly, okay? Judges picks up where Joshua leaves off.
• 10:18
  Judges chapter 2 and verse 6, when Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. And Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-Heras, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gash.
• 10:48
  And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. Stop real quick. What does that mean? All that generation did what? They died, okay? So that entire generation that had made that declaration, we will serve the Lord, all of them are now dead. And look at how verse 10 ends. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
• 11:18
  and served the Baals, that is, false gods. As long as that generation remained, Israel was faithful to God. However, they had forgotten one very important matter, and that is the passing on of the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord to their kids. And so there arose another generation after them who didn't know the Lord or the work that He had done for Israel. And the book of Judges describes a spiritual cycle sparked by that generation that the entire nation slipped into.
• 11:51
  and playing out for 11 more generations. One generation after the next fell into the same sin as their parents, and Judges covers somewhere around 200 or so years in the history of Israel, 11 generations of what might be arguably the darkest time in Israel's history, spiritually speaking. The people would serve false gods.
• 12:16
  And so God would raise up a conquering nation like the Midianites or like the Philistines to bring the people into submission. And so the people would cry out to the Lord and repent, begging the Lord for help. And so God would raise up a judge to throw off that conquering nation. Judges like who? Samson, he's the most famous one, right? Superhuman strength, kills all those Philistines, goes blind, gets a haircut. You guys know that story, right? Gideon, who defeats the Midianites.
• 12:48
  With 300 guys holding torches and pitchers? I mean, remarkable stories. Deborah and Barak and Othniel and Ehud and some others. I mean, it's incredible. And for generation after generation, that is this pattern, this downward spiral, this sin cycle that people slipped into. And as long as that judge was alive, the people served God. But as soon as the judge died,
• 13:15
  The people slipped right back into the same sin, the same evil in the eyes of the Lord. You guys saw in chapter 2 and verse 11, they did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. Do you see that? Look, probably the same page, chapter 3 and verse 7. New generation now. Chapter 3 and verse 7, and the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. Chapter 3 and verse 12, new generation, and the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
• 13:42
  chapter 4 and verse 1 new generation and the people of israel again did what was evil in the sight of the lord just take a walk with me through the book of judges turn a few pages to the right look at chapter 6 and verse 1 the people of israel did what was evil in the sight of the lord like are you kidding me a few more pages chapter 10
• 14:02
  Chapter 10 and verse 6, the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. Chapter 13 and verse 1, the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. Go all the way to the end of the book, Judges chapter 21, all the way at the end. Judges chapter 21 and verse 25, the last verse in the book ends with what might be the saddest commentary.
• 14:30
  In the book where it says in those days there was no king in Israel. Now stop for just a second. That's not totally true. There was no human king. But that's not to say that Israel didn't have a king. Who was their king? I mean God was their king. They didn't have a king that they wanted. They didn't have a king that they recognized.
• 14:49
  In fact, if you go one more book in 1 Samuel, they actually demand a human king. Remember that? We want a human king like all the other nations have. And despite God's warnings against it, they demanded it. And so God said, okay, you can have Saul. And it didn't work out very well for them. There was no recognized king in Israel. And verse 25 says, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes. The lesson of Joshua and Judges is clear.
• 15:20
  One faithful generation is called to pass on the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord to the next. And we find in the book of Judges that God-loving parents, if they are not intentional, if they are not careful, if they are not diligent, can actually spawn wicked kids. Now the truth of it is...
• 15:45
  that even if they are intentional, careful, and diligent, they can still spawn wicked kids. Because for anybody who has had kids, you have to recognize at some point that we actually have very little control over the state of their souls. We can make demands when they're young, but at some point we have to hand them over to the Lord and just say, Lord, it's between you and them. At this point, they don't eat out of my fridge anymore, and so they can make their own spiritual decisions. It's up to you, Lord.
• 16:13
  And so even the very best parents who do everything right can still raise kids who reject the Lord. But we must as parents and spiritual mentors and disciple makers in the church, we must be intentional and careful and diligent in passing on the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord to the next generation. We ended the book of Jonah several weeks ago with a national...
• 16:40
  Do you guys remember? You think mourning and then rejoicing and then celebrating the grace of the Savior. Jonah ran from the call of God straight into the mouth of the storm and then straight into the mouth of the fish. And by the time Jonah showed up at Nineveh, he was whipped. He stands up and he offers this simple message. 40 days, a month and a half, and you're all going to die. That was his gospel presentation. There was no gospel in it. There was no hope.
• 17:09
  There was no crying out for mercy. There was no compassion. He just said in a month and a half, all of you will be gone. But as you recall, the Ninevites repented. And so the Lord relented of the disaster. And from the greatest of them to the least, from the king to the smallest child, they trusted in the Lord and they were spared. However, a mere two generations later, those same Ninevites were again walking in destructive.
• 17:40
  Disobedience. You guys remember when we ended the book of Jonah, those last phrases there, the last couple of verses, God is pleading with his own prophet Jonah to have compassion on the people. And Jonah is a compassionless man. And God says, there are 120,000 Ninevites who don't even know their right hand from the left. Do you remember that? We assume he's referring there to kids. There are 120,000 kids in Nineveh. And God is saying, should I not have compassion on them?
• 18:09
  Of course I should have compassion on them. And what we see in the book of Nahum is that those kids grew up. They had kids and eventually they had grandkids of their own who were disinterested in the faiths of their grandparents. And so the Lord in his kindness again sent a prophet, this time by the name of Nahum. But this time the Ninevites hardened their hearts.
• 18:38
  they rejected the God of their grandparents. And so the Lord poured out upon them his promised wrath. Less than a decade after Nahum's prophecy, Babylon would arise and would utterly destroy the Assyrian empire, including Nineveh. Less than 10 years, and Nineveh, that great city, would be forever leveled. Where Jonah was a book of hope to those who were wicked, and yet...
• 19:05
  willing to humble themselves and receive forgiveness. The book of Nahum is a book of hope to those who are victimized. Jonah is a book offering forgiveness to the oppressor. Nahum is a book offering light to those who are oppressed. In fact, one has said, Nahum is a book for survivors, for those who want to find hope beyond their oppression. The book of Nahum contains a very important answer to a very important question.
• 19:37
  is very frequently asked even in 2022 America even today this question is asked frequently name contains the answer the question is this does God see the hurting and the lowly does God pay attention to those who are oppressed and name would say emphatically yes beyond a doubt
• 20:06
  Even in the midst of unmitigated cruelty, God sees. Even in the midst of heartache and despair, God sees. Even in the valley of the shadow of death, those who trust in God will never be put to shame. Nahum also contains a promise, and it's a promise that we should heed, church. There will be a day when the slow-burning anger of the God of heaven and earth will be unleashed, and evildoers will receive their
• 20:41
  recompense, justice, will one day be served. And this book, and as we read Nahum, and especially next Sunday, as we study Nahum chapter 1, and we read about the judgment of God that should add fuel to our fear of the Lord flames. On that day, the day of the Lord, on judgment day, church, your faith in God is what will count, not the faith of your grandma.
• 21:11
  And so turn back with me, if you haven't already now, to Nahum chapter 1. Find your Bible ribbon that you'll use for the next month. Reopen to verse 1, where it says, an oracle concerning Nineveh. That word for oracle in the Hebrew is the word masa. It's a heavy burden, something difficult to lift. This is going to be a heavy message. In Harry Potter terms, an oracle would be a howler, all right?
• 21:38
  I had to explain that joke to 8 a.m. service because none of them's ever read Harry Potter. We don't often use oracles anymore, but in ancient times, oracles always represented the judgment of God against someone. It was always bad news. God warning of impending doom to a people group or to an entire nation. And there were many oracles given by prophets in the Old Testament. For instance, Isaiah brought an oracle against Babylon because of their threats against
• 22:09
  Judah. Nahum's prophecy that we're going to read about was pronounced against Nineveh because of that city's, and by extension all of Assyria's, wicked practices. I would remind us again of our Jonah study that the Assyrians, these people, were known for their brutality. They often dismembered and disfigured their conquered adversaries. They would parade their enemy's body parts through town. What kind of sick people? I mean, honestly.
• 22:40
  What kind of sick people really does put heads on pikes and then walk through town as a victory? I mean, this was a sick people. They used the body parts of their enemies as a warning to those who would rise up against them. Oracles were always delivered with a strong sense of divine authority. In other words, the words of an oracle were meant to be considered God's words and not the words of...
• 23:06
  the prophet and so nahum writes the words of the oracle against nineveh but on behalf of god himself these were divine warnings nahum's oracle what we will study for the month of august can be divided into three main sections this morning and next sunday chapter one the author will walk us through the divine wrath of yahweh against brutality and oppression and listen church i am looking forward to next sunday but it's a heavy message
• 23:37
  And I'm telling you, God does not like it when we mistreat other people. He does not. And he gives some pretty clear warnings about it. Chapter 2, the destroyers will be destroyed. And in chapter 3, Nineveh's long-standing cruelty will come to an end. An oracle concerning Nineveh. And he continues, the book of the vision of Nahum of Elkosh. Now almost nothing is known of Nahum the prophet.
• 24:04
  We do know that he comes from this place Elkosh in the Old Testament. Perhaps it was known as Capernaum in the New Testament. Capernaum means village of Nahum. Capernaum. It could be some others. People have ideas. But we really don't know where Elkosh really is. What is known about him is his name. Nahum means bringer of comfort. That creates kind of an interesting irony and even a dichotomy.
• 24:34
  This heavy-handed message of judgment and wrath is being brought by a guy whose name means comforter. It's not a very comforting message, and so it probably causes you to wonder why. Who is going to receive comfort? And certainly, as we will see, it is not the Ninevites. But rather, we read in the remainder of the book that the Lord has not abandoned his people. He promises them comfort.
• 25:01
  And so who were these people? Likely, they were the Judeans, who were living under threat of a Syrian attack and dispossession.
• 25:10
  The Assyrians had already conquered the ten northern tribes of Israel at this point. All of those northern tribes, Dan and Asher and Gad and Naphtali and Ephraim and others, they'd already been conquered and dispossessed of the land. And so now only Judah and Benjamin, the two southern tribes, remained. And they were living under this constant threat of the Assyrian invasion. And so God is probably directing that comfort to them.
• 25:39
  That Nahum's oracle would show God's care and keeping of his people even though it is combined with his wrath against those who persist in rebellion and cruelty. The fact that these Ninevites to whom the Lord would direct his wrath are the very grandkids of those Ninevites who repented in Jonah's time presents us with a stark reminder that every faithful generation
• 26:06
  must make a decision about whether they will train up the next generation or whether their faith will die with them. It's a stark reminder to us as individuals, to us as parents and grandparents, to us as spiritual mentors, to us as disciple makers, to us as a church. It is a stark reminder that every generation must ask the question, will this stop with us? Will it stop with us? You know, churches in Denver,
• 26:42
  die all the time just start to pay attention as you drive around town how many run down and beat up little churches there are that need a facelift that have weeds in their parking lots that's always an indicator just check out the parking lot and those churches will die they'll close their doors and they will state any number of reasons but
• 27:06
  Can I offer church that the only real reason that a church would die is that they failed to pass along the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord to another faithful generation? No churches ever close their doors because they are too healthy. You see what I'm saying? Like no churches ever die because too many people are being discipled. There's just too many. Like that has never happened. No churches ever die because too many people are coming to Christ. There's just way too many.
• 27:35
  Like we've had so many baptisms this year. We're running out of tap water. Like we just got to close the doors. No churches ever die because too many people are coming to Christ. And beloved church, we are also confronted with that same question. Will we be the last generation of faithful Highlanders? Well, let's stop with us. I heard a startling statistic this week that churches in America typically only survive two to three generations.
• 28:08
  50 years is about the lifespan of an average American church. The church will be planted, it will grow, eventually diminish, and eventually close their doors. And that typically lasts about 50 years, about two generations. Apparently, their climax in terms of attendance and influence in the little mini subculture or city in which they dwell, their climax is usually about the 12-year mark.
• 28:35
  That a church will be planted, it will struggle being small in its infancy, but eventually they will get a groove, people will begin to come, they'll start to staff up, they'll get some quality people around them, they'll begin to grow in influence. Until about the 12-year mark. 12 years is usually about as strong as a church ever gets. And then it will begin to descend into anonymity and irrelevance.
• 29:02
  For the next 30 or so years, it will eventually be a very small group of older people whose kids and grandkids never followed them, and eventually to close their doors. Well, how can we, church, as Highlanders, ensure our church's survival? How do we ensure that that will not happen to us? And the answer is by passing on the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord to the next generation. And you, can I address you who are younger? Maybe you're part of that next generation. Can I, for a moment, address all of the under 30-year-olds?
• 29:34
  The work is not only ours. It's not only the older people. There's also an expectation on you. Will you pick up that torch of faith? It doesn't just rely on your parents or grandparents or spiritual mentors to set wisdom at your feet. We can do that, but at some point, you're going to have to pick it up. I've been reading quite a bit in preparation for a pretty large project I'm working on, books and articles by the score in reference to this kind of idea.
• 30:07
  Perhaps the most profound single statement I've read in all of those books and articles and all of that in the past year, the best single sentence is this one from William Vander Bloemen, where he simply says, every pastor is an interim pastor. Every pastor is an interim pastor. Normally a church will hire an interim pastor for a year or two maximum as they look to fill that role with somebody else. Will you just come and pastor our church for a year? We'll call you an interim pastor and then you're off the hook and you can go.
• 30:36
  somewhere else and he said no no that is that is a little bit confusing that's a little bit of a misnomer every pastor is an interim pastor it doesn't matter if you're there for a year or 10 years or 30 years you're still an interim pastor the reality is church that i will one day hand off the reigns of highland baptist church to another and before you jump onto facebook or insta face or whatever
• 31:03
  And post, hey, I think Danny just resigned. I'm not resigning, okay? In case you think, that was my big announcement. That was not my big announcement. I'm here. The Lord has me here. And as far as I know, this is the place that I will die unless the Lord calls me somewhere else. But I also recognize that I have no idea what's going to happen this afternoon. And the reality is I can make my plans and plan to be here until I pass into incompetence. And you may think, you've already done that, sir. And I would ask you to keep your comments to yourselves.
• 31:36
  But not only will I eventually hand off the reins of Highland Baptist Church to another, our entire generation will eventually hand off the reins to another generation. We will all one day be gone. We are all interim members of Highland Baptist Church. And for you who are younger, it will be up to you to carry that torch. Each successive generation will have to decide whether the gospel message will stop with them.
• 32:05
  And we're going to do something now that I think is really special. And as far as I know, Highland has never done before. I got together with Carla, our worship director, several months ago. I asked her to write us a song based on this idea, this idea of passing on the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord.
• 32:23
  to the next generation, a generational kind of song, and I gave it to her months ago knowing that we would study the book of Nahum, and I asked her to write us a song that we would sing specifically for this study. You will not find it on the radio or on Spotify. This is a song written by us and to be sung for us, and church, she did it, and it's good. It's good. The song's title is It Will Not Stop With Us. That statement will become the theme of the next month here at our church.
• 32:51
  It is a declaration and a prayer and even a commitment to tell others of what the Lord has done for us. So let me pray and then we'll sing it together. And Lord, we thank you for entrusting us with the gospel. But Lord, we know the part of being faithful stewards is to entrust that gospel to others. Lord, what it means to keep the faith is actually to give the faith away.
• 33:19
  And so God, I pray that we would be faithful, that our generation would be faithful to pass on the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord to the next generation and in turn they would be faithful and then the next generation would be faithful and then the next generation would be faithful. And Lord, not for our glory and not even for the good of this church address, but rather for the growth and for the expansion of your kingdom. Lord, you are worthy of our worship and you are worthy of the declaration that we are about to make that it will not stop with us. Lord, we make this commitment.
• 33:51
  with each other and for your glory. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.