00:00 Celebrating One Year of Compass Bible Church

00:35 Reflecting on the First Service and God's Work

01:36 The Joy of Being Part of the Body of Christ

01:57 Birthday Celebration Activities

02:52 Introduction to the Book of Nahum

04:12 Nahum's Prophecy Against Nineveh

06:47 Lessons from Nahum for Today's Church

08:59 The Fall of Nineveh and Its Implications

11:58 Concluding Prayer and Reflections

Happy birthday compass Bible church.

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It is August 4th, 2024 and a year

ago, technically August 6th, but a

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year ago we opened our doors for the

first time, officially as a church.

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And so what an exciting day, this is

going to be this morning on a Sunday

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morning at our church services.

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If you're in the area, we would love

for you to join us or maybe you already

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have, but it's going to be a great time.

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We are celebrating all the good that

God has done here in our church.

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Through our church body through the,

uh, the efforts of the labors of so many

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of you that are listening right now.

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And, and those that, that aren't,

or haven't listened yet, man,

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we are so thankful for you.

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And, uh, what, uh, what a day of joy and

celebration this is, I remember August.

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Uh, six, 2024 fondly or

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Um, that first service, just not

knowing what God was going to do.

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And certainly as I sat there that

morning, having no clue what he would

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do a year later and all the things that

he's done and really that's going to

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be the focus of our morning together

this morning at compass, we're going to

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be in Philippians chapter one, verses

three through 11, where Paul religious.

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Thanks God for the

Philippian believers there.

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And he praises God and thanks God

for their partnership in the gospel.

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And that's really how I

feel about our church body.

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And even those of you

listening in California.

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Uh, as you're part of our sending church

out there, there's a partnership that we

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enjoy with you as well as so much of what

we're doing has been made possible by.

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The, uh, the support

of our sending church.

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And so really, truly for all of you

listening to this, whether you're

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part of our sending church back

home or, or another church body

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look, there's a, a real sense of

us being part of something bigger.

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And that's, that's what we're

talking about as well this morning.

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And one of our points just.

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The joy of being part of the body

of Christ and realizing we are

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part of something bigger than,

than anything else in this world.

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Uh, there are different fraternities

and sororities and business

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organizations and business leads

and everything else like that.

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But man, There's nothing as big

or as significant as the church

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and what the church is doing.

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And so, uh, what a joyful day,

this is, we are celebrating.

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We're going to have the ice,

the snow cone truck out there.

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I see, I see.

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Ice cream, snow cone.

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No, not ice cream, snow

cone truck out there.

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Uh, we're going to have

just a celebration cupcakes.

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It's going to be a joyful morning.

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And, and man, how cool is it?

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For me at least.

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And I hope it is for you too.

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But I love the thought of just thinking

about all of the, uh, the people that are

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a part of our church today, that weren't

a part of our church a year ago and how

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God has brought them to our church body.

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And so many are being used by

him and in different ways and

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serving in different capacities.

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It's awesome.

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Can't wait to see what he's going to

do in the future, because that's what

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we're talking about this morning, too.

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He's not done.

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We're celebrating everything that he has

done, but realizing that he's not done.

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And that's, uh, that's our morning,

this morning at compass Bible church.

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So join us for our birthday celebration.

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As we celebrate one year of God's

faithfulness, as we look forward.

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Uh, to Lord willing many more years.

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Should he Terry of his faithful work here

at compass Bible church in north Texas.

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Well this morning, we

are in the book of Naomi.

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And the entirety of it, it's

only three chapters, but, uh,

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we are covering the whole thing.

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And so grab your Bibles, open

them up to Naomi, Naomi, Naomi.

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Uh, his name means comfort

and it's actually a shortened

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version of the name Nehemiah.

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So it was a nickname for Nehemiah.

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So Naomi means comfort.

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Uh, I actually knew one person

that a family that I may not, I

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went to church with in, uh, our

seminary days, my seminary days

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that that named their Sunday, him.

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I think he's the only name that I know,

uh, outside of the name of the Bible.

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A little is known about the

profit and they, him either he,

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uh, he's not on the scene much.

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We don't know a whole lot about who he is

or what he did or, or anything like that.

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And so, um, Eh, there's no Kings

mentioned in the context to provide

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a timeframe, even for his prophecy.

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So we're, we're kind of flying blind

in the book of Nahum by a lot by large

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margin here is we're trying to figure

out the context and what's going on.

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Most likely though this was written during

the time of a Syrian strength, uh, 6 95

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to 6 42 BC being kind of their, their

big window of, of dominance and strength.

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But.

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Uh, which replaces ministry in,

in and around Manassas reign.

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Second Kings 21 second Chronicles 32.

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So not a good time for Judah.

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If it's during Manasseh rain,

remember Manasseh was an evil king

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for the majority of his reign.

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So if this really did take place during

Vanessa's rain, that this is not good.

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Our setting comes about a hundred years

after Jonah and I'm talking about Judah,

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but it's important to note that this

is really a message that's delivered.

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Uh, to Nineveh.

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And so that's why Jonah is significant

because we're about a hundred years later.

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We're a hundred years after Jonah.

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Remember Jonah's message to Nineveh

was repent in the Assyrians, the

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Ninevites they did, they repented

and God spared his judgment.

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But now.

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The Assyrians had turned back

to idolatry and oppression and,

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and just general wickedness.

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And if our time estimate is right,

they are enjoying a time of great

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strength, but there falls only about

30 years away when Babylon is going

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to come and just take them out.

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So the prophet is, is writing to Ninevah.

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The prophet is addressing the Assyrians

and that's one of the reasons why.

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We don't have a Judy and king given in the

introduction here, because this is really

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about the foreign nation of, uh, Syria.

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Uh, Nahum chapter one.

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Uh, this is Nathan.

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Again, this gives us the idea that

this is Jonah part two, because this

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is the Oracle concerning Nineveh.

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Nineveh was also on the scene there

in the book of Jonah, is that you just

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talked about, but Jonah or Nahum chapter

one rather is a chapter about God's

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announcement of the impending judgment.

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That was going to be

fall of the Assyrians.

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So in verse three, verse three, we see

that the Lord is slow to anger, but that

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doesn't mean that the anger won't come.

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So he says, the Lord Lord is

slow to anger and great in power.

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And the Lord will by no

means clear the guilty.

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So God's mercy is not

to be presumed upon him.

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In fact, Paul said that, right?

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Don't you know that his.

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His mercy is meant to lead to repentance.

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And when people don't repent, I

mean that mercy is not infinite.

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There's a degree to which God

says, okay, enough is enough.

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I'm slow to anger, but I'm not, not angry.

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That there's going to be a time when God.

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Does.

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I come against the people and come

against the evil in the world.

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And that's what he does here with Nineveh.

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Verse six when his wrath is revealed.

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Uh, and in that, that time does run

out and the, the, the anger is no more.

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Nope.

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Is no longer being held in check.

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I mean, that is going to be intense.

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And so in verse six, who can stand

before his indignation, who can

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endure the heat of his, of his anger.

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The answer obviously

is no one can do that.

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Verse eight, there's no remnants

left among the Assyrians.

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As there would be an Israel.

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And eventually in Judah, this

is a complete annihilation he's.

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He's going to judge them completely there.

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They're going to be wiped out an

overflowing flood verse eight.

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He's going to make a complete

end of the adversaries and

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pursue his enemies into darkness.

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Verse nine.

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What do you plot against the Lord again?

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Who can withstand.

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And this finally, verse 12 in

chapter one, though, they were

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experiencing strength and prosperity.

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This was not going to last verse

12 is, is, uh, just that reminder

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to the Ninevites don't trust in

your current circumstances and ban.

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Church.

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I feel like that's a good warning for us.

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I feel like that's a good warning for,

uh, the church at large, big C that like.

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Th that is, as we look at.

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Our current landscape and enjoy a relative

time of comfort here in our nation that

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may not last and God's judgment may come

upon his church and we may start to see.

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Things get a lot more difficult

to be Christians here.

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And we're going to see what that

looks like in the coming years,

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maybe decades, who knows if God is.

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Is, uh, is more patient than that.

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Maybe it'll be longer than that, but

just because things are good now is,

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is not a guarantee that they're always

going to be good, just because it's

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comfortable right now is not a guarantee

that it's always going to be that way.

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And I think we can apply

that to the church.

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Certainly we can apply that to our nation.

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I mean, as we think about the prosperity

of the United States of America over

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the centuries, there's very much a real.

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Oh awareness that we need to possess

that, that there's no guarantee

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that that's going to continue.

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And when we are such a godless nation,

as we have become, we shouldn't

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expect that it's going to continue.

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And so with a cigarette here, we can

learn a lesson from that chapter two,

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then the Assyrians ready themselves

for battle to defend their city.

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That's verses one through five.

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Uh, and verses six through nine then

in spite of their armor and their

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weapons in the chair, it's, it's

not going to stand up again, who

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can stand against the wrath of God?

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The answer is no one.

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Uh, it got God is going

to come against them.

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Verse six, the rivers near the city

would flood and eat away at the walls.

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Verse seven, the goddess of the city would

be powerless to defend her against her.

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The invaders.

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A common thing in prophecy

is when God kind of mocks.

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Not kind of, he does mock the,

the false gods and goddesses.

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He says, why don't you call out to them?

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See if they can help you here.

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He's saying, look, Th th the goddess of

your city, not going to be able to help

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you, not going to be able to do anything,

uh, powerless against the invaders verse

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eight, the Oasis that once was Nineveh.

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This spot that people desire

they wanted to be there.

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It was a, it was a respite.

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It was a good place, a place of a luxury.

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It's going to be trained of her

waters as people flee the city that.

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And leave it in ruins.

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And so the place that everybody

wanted to be at one time is

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going to be deserted verse nine.

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The riches and wealth of the city are

going to become spoiled for her conquers.

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The Babylonians are going to come in

conquered Nineveh and take whatever

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they want to take from there.

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And then finally verses 11 through

13 and chapter two, though, they

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were once the proud lion they

would be can pray for another.

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The Lord was against them and there

was no one who could save them anymore.

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So chapter two, just again, here comes

the judgment, just telling Nineveh.

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This is what's coming

and good luck, right?

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Not really, but.

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You're going to bow up.

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You're going to ready yourself for battle.

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You're going to look to defend

your city against the Babylonians.

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You need to understand it's it's not

Babylon ultimately fighting against you.

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The Lord is using Babylon

to bring judgment upon you.

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And that's why you're not

going to be able to stand.

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And so there you go.

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Name them.

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Chapter two, finally, chapter three.

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Uh, verses one through three, the

cruel blood loss of the Assyrians

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is going to be turned against them.

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As Nineveh would be overrun with the

bodies of her defenders, just a, a

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graphic in, in horrific scene here as

the pictures of not being able to walk

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through the city streets of Nineveh

because of the slain that had fallen

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there during the defense of the city.

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Uh, verses four through

seven, the immorality and

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idolatry of the nation once.

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So alluring and enticing to others.

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I mean, think of.

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Of how much.

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How many.

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Other nations Nineveh made to fall by

their godlessness, including Israel

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and including, you know, Judah as

well, luring them away with their

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false gods and their idolatry there.

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And all of that, that was once.

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So enticing is going to eventually

lead to her humiliation and shame.

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In the midst of the judgment

of the Lord in the midst of the

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judgment of Yahweh, the true God.

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Whereas once people sought out

her sensuality and her debauchery,

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now they're going to shrink away

and recoil at her fallen state.

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So, this is a great reversal.

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This is a.

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This is an undoing of all

that was once great about a

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serum verses eight through 19.

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Then the gist of chapter three,

the Assyrians had conquered Thebes,

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which was Egypt and they would.

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Eventually meet the same end

themselves as, as Thebes.

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Themes was considered a

strong and unconquerable area.

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At one time, Egypt was

considered to be the.

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The power of the world at one time.

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And, and yet it fell.

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And the Assyrians though, they felt

strong and unconquerable at the moment.

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They too were ultimately going to fall.

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Uh, NEOMED three 12 through 13 in

the midst of this, that, which they

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once boasted about would prove no

help in defending against them.

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Uh, defending them

against the wrath of God.

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And, and so in, in.

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Their troops verse 13.

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The women, the gates of their

land wide open to their enemies.

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Fire has devoured your bars.

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They were going to be a

vulnerable and helpless nation.

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So important for us to see this

and understand that that nations

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rise and fall on the decree

and power of God and God alone.

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It's not that they rise and

fall by their own mites or by

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the might of another nation.

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This is God sovereignly

moving things around.

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We're going to see this so clearly

in the book of Daniel, especially,

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but right now we see it here.

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Uh, here, you've got Naomi sent to

Nineveh, sent to the Assyrian, sent

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to this godless nation to say, Hey,

your time is running out and the

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Lord is going to come against you.

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And when he comes against you,

you're not going to be able to stand.

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And so, Naomi, what is it?

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It's you can think of it Jonah part

two, but this time, unlike Jonah

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part one, Where there's repentance.

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There's no repentance here this time.

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This is God you're saying I'm done.

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You're done here comes to the

end and ultimately he's going to

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use Babylon to deliver that end.

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Let's pray and then we will be done.

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Uh, shorter episode today with our

episode of the daily Bible podcast.

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But hopefully you enjoy even

reading a book like Nahum.

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It's difficult.

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It's, it's prophesy.

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It's not dealing with Judah or Israel,

but it's a good reminder for us of

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God's sovereignty over the nation.

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So let's pray together.

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God, we thank you for that

reality, that truth that you

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are in control over all things.

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We thank you that.

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Uh, you established

Kings and in remove them.

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And we want to be mindful of that.

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And we want to make sure that

our trust is not in a nation.

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Our trust is not in a king or a president.

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Our trust is not in a political

system, but our trust is

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ultimately in you and God, that is.

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Something, so easy to

say in hard to live out.

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It's easy to say that in not an agreement

and say, yes, God is the sovereign one.

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And yet.

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We can get so swept up and caught up in

the headlines that we read, we can get

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so swept up and caught up in just so much

other nonsense going on in our lives.

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That we're tempted to shift our

trust away from you and, and

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to panic and to become anxious.

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When we read about these headlines

and we read about things and say,

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oh no, what's going to happen.

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And we forget so easily

that you are the God.

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Who installs the Kings and removes them.

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And you are the God who raises

up empires and takes them out.

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And we don't know how much longer.

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We're going to face a time

of prosperity as a nation.

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Uh, many believe that there's

writing on the wall in that

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regards, we freely confess.

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We don't know.

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And so one of the things that we

want to do is pray for revival here.

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We do want to pray that, that we would

return to that we would be restored

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into a position of true godliness

Lord, where it's not just a show.

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It's not just saying, Hey, we're

a quote unquote Christian nation.

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But, but that there's truly people

that are Christians in our nation

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that love you, and that are pursuing

you in our pursuing the Lord.

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So God give us that grace, have that

be your, your will, if not help.

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Us as a church to stand strong

and to stand firm in the midst of

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the darkening world and continue

to be a light to those around us.

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So we thank you.

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We praise you for all

these things in Jesus name.

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Amen.

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We're also so grateful for God's

faithfulness to us for one year of

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ministry at compass Bible church.

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Looking forward to so

much more Lord unwilling.

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Hey, and keeping your Bibles tune in

again tomorrow for another episode

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of the daily Bible podcast by.