Comfort Gone Wild

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. What could possibly

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go wrong with a verse that reads like this?

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Comfort ye, comfort.

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Ye my people, saith your God. Comfort ye, comfort ye

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my people, saith your God.

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That's the entire verse.

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I just read it two times. Let me read it

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one more time. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith

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your God. That's Isaiah chapter forty, verse one. What could

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possibly go wrong with a verse that reads like that?

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I mean, is there anything controversial about that? Is there

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anything difficult about that? Comfort ye, comfort yee? So we

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have comfort. We have the comfort ye, comfort yee.

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Who is the y?

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And then who's being comforted?

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My people?

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Someone is to comfort my people, saith your God. So

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God is telling someone to comfort my people.

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Who are the my people? Who is the e? We

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know obviously God?

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Who is the my people? Well we're in Isaiah forty,

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so that should be easily to figure out.

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You go to Isaiah thirty nine.

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Oh okay, people go are taken into Babylonian captivity. Well,

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then that follows Isaiah forty. So then the people who

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are going to be comforted are the people in Babylonian captivity.

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Who is the ee, Well, most likely that's Isaiah, the

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prophet who is supposed to is being given in a sense,

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this prophecy of comfort and God is the one setting

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this up. It seems simple, it seems straightforward, should not

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be complicated, should not be difficult, should not be controversial.

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But inevitably, what happens a verse that should be so simple? Obviously,

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I guess it's more complicated than I would like to believe.

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Maybe I'm naive, maybe I'm foolish, but I would think

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this verse should be relatively easy to handle, even by

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people who've never gone to Bible college or seminary. But

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it seems that the people have gone to Bible college

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and seminary are the ones who have the most difficulty

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in handling the text. And the people sitting in the

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pew don't seem too worried.

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About what's being done with the text.

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So we're going to be talking about comfort and how comfort. Oh,

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I guess has gone wild. I guess comfort gone wild. Well,

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we're going to talk about that, but first I guess

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I probably should do this. Good afternoon, everyone. It is Thursday,

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November fourteenth, twenty twenty four. It is currently four five

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pm Central Time, and I am coming to you live

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from the Theology Central Studio located right here in Abilene, Texas,

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where I need some kind of comfort because I'm losing

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my mind. All right, let me try to explain what

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has happened this past Sunday. Standing behind the pulpit at

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Victory Baptist Church located in the middle of nowhere, Texas,

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I spent.

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Two plus hours.

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On Isaiah forty, Isaiah thirty nine, and Deuteronomy twenty eight

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and following right, that's kind of where we were we

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were doing, and we're doing a lot.

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Of work on Isaiah forty.

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In fact, we've started an entire series on Isaiah forty

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through fifty five.

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So we've been doing all of this work.

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And the reason we've been doing all of this work

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is because I have grown completely frustrated with how pastors

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take this section of Scripture and just do whatever they

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want with it, and I feel misapply it, and I

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feel in some ways that offer things to people that

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doesn't belong to those people, and those people are never

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going to get what they're being promised, they're being lied to,

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and I get really frustrated with that. So I'm like,

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we're going to go through Isaiah forty through fifty five

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and try to turn this into something positive.

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Well, if you listen the.

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First hour, I think went pretty good. I think it

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went okay. I think we did a pretty good job.

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I think it was okay. I mean, you can go

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listen to those messages and draw your own conclusion, but

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I think the first hour went pretty good. Then the

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second hour came and I think I was doing.

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Pretty good in the second hour.

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And then I was looking at the I had finished

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a section. I kind of finished all of our work

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by going back to Isaiah thirty nine and Deteronomy twenty eight.

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I'd gone back and kind of done all of that work,

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and I kind of looked at the clock, and I thought,

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you know, I probably should stop right here, because the

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next thing I wanted to do was go to Isaiah

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forty look at the Hebrew word for comfort. I did

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a little bit of that, but not a lot, and

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then I was going to go look at where that

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Hebrew word is used throughout the entire book of Isaiah. Okay,

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So I had this idea, but then I kind of

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looked at the time on the clock. I'm like, oh,

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it's about it's about noon. I really don't have time.

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I don't really have time to do that, right, I'm

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not going to get very far, so I need to

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wrap this up.

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So I decided.

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To talk about comfort, because well, comfort is right here.

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Comfort ye, comfort yee.

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That's where this entire that's the introduction really to this

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entire section of the Isaiah forty through fifty five. And

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the reason we know this is kind of an introduction

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is because it changes everything the first thirty nine versus

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really there's a lot about judgment and guilt and shame

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and sin and coming judgment, and all of a sudden

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in chapter forty it's comfort yee, comfort yee. So I'm like, okay,

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here's a good chance to talk about comfort. Right, We've

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talked about it on the podcast, So I can kind

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of introduce this and say this to the people sitting

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in the pew, because you know, I think, you know,

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they most likely they haven't heard the podcast, so I

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can just kind of offer something here. So standing behind

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the pulpit, if you've listened to the sermon, you can

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look at the battle. You can time it out and

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note that it's probably happening around twelve oh five pm.

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I think I can just kind of mention something briefly

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be over by twelve ten twelve fifteen, our normal time,

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and and it won't.

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Go too long.

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So in my mind, this should be relatively quick. It

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would just kind of remind every one of a very

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important practical point. So I basically asked everyone a question

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that a lot of pastors take Isaiah forty and a

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lot of verses found in Isaiah forty that may talk

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about God's power, God being creator. So I asked everyone,

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when we think about God's attributes, when we think of

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his power, when they think of him as creator, does

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that bring you comfort? Now, I've already been talking about

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this on the podcast, so there was a part of

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me that people in the church would say, well, I

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mean I thought maybe it would. But after I, you know,

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we discussed this on the podcast, I've changed my mind.

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But no, the people said I think it would. I

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don't think maybe. I don't think anyone disagreed. I would

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have to go back and try to listen to see

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if I can hear.

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The people speaking.

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But at least two individuals were very clear to say

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no when I think of God being all powerful and

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think of God being creator. I find comfort in that,

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and so I think, in some statement, well, you guys

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will do very well in any church you go to.

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But I don't accept this in any way, shape or form.

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I don't believe it should bring any comfort.

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And immediately you could kind of feel like, you know,

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like someone went and turned the temperature way down in

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the church. It felt like it got called. Now that

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may be my perception. My perception may not be right,

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but I felt like, all of a sudden, Oh, I

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just messed up because I don't think everyone here agrees,

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and I no one argued with me, no one said anything.

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I am very grateful, but I think that there is

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a lot of people who don't like my approach to

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this subject of comfort. As we've talked about in Isaiah forty.

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I don't think a lot of people appreciate my approach

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to the entire section of Isaiah forty through fifty five.

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And if I look, in fact, I have.

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Been sitting here for a little over an hour, and

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I was just looking at one sermon after another sermon

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after another sermon on sermon audio on Isaiah forty, verse

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one and I mean, I don't think any of those

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sermons that I could find, at least I didn't stumble

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upon one. They seemed to even care about applying this

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comfort to the original people. It's all about you get comfort,

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and you get comfort, and you get comfort and you

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get comforted. Hey, you in the back, you get comfort.

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And we all get comfort from Isaiah forty And we

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all should find great comfort that God is all powerful

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and God is creator. We should all find comfort in it.

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And I I I'm not I'm not convinced of that

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at all. Maybe there was a time in my Christian life.

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Oh, I have a famous book. Where is it? I

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think it's in the church library.

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It's a famous book on God's attributes all right. I

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can't remember the name of the author. I mean it's

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like famous famous. The thing is like eight hundred pages.

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I had to use it for one of the schools

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I went to on you know, theology proper and the

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attributes of God communicable noncommunical, Okay, all of those things

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about the attributes of God. And I think in every

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chapter where the attributes, you know, an attribute of God

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is picked and then it's broken down into multiple chapters.

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I think and in every single case, whatever the attribute

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it is, Oh, this should bring the child of God

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great comfort. This should bring the child of God great comfort.

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And I probably use that and preach that countless times

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about the comfort that we should find that our create

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we have a creator who's all powerful, who's omnipresent, who's omniscient. Yes,

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we find great comfort. And I now am almost the

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skeptic of that perspective.

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And here's the reason why.

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Now we'll get into Isaiah forty a little bit more.

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But if we go through Isaiah forty and go through

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some of these passages, we learn about God's power creator.

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I think we even have a section here about him

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knowing the stars or naming the stars, something along those lines.

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There's a lot of that and this section of scripture. Now,

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of course, in the section of scripture, it all has

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a textual and historical context that I guess no longer matters.

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But let me just I'm gonna go ahead and challenge.

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And I don't think this is controversial to me, It

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should not be controversial. But for some reason everyone thinks

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that what I say is like insane. But it's only

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insane because I guess I'm one of the few voices

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is willing to challenge this me. Just I talked about

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it Sunday. I know it was controversial, but let me

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just say it again. Knowing that God is all powerful

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brings me absolutely no comfort. It absolutely raises nine million

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questions that leave me without comfort. It leaves me comfort less.

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What do I mean by that? Well, here's an all

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powerful God, all powerful, he can do whatever he wants.

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He's also all knowing, he knows everything, and he's also

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present everywhere at all times, all right, And I can

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just go through situation after situation after situation after situation

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situation and go I find no comfort in these situations

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because the all powerful God who's present everywhere, who knows everything,

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is doing absolutely nothing to He didn't do anything to

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prevent it, he's not doing anything to stop it. He's

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not doing anything to make it better. And we could

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go through child abuse, child molestations, even child molestations inside churches,

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human trafficking, sex trafficking, disease, murder, and we.

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Can go on and on and on and on and great.

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But the pastors come along and say, God is all powerful.

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You need to find great comfort in that tonight. Why

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unless I know the power is going to intervene in

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my particular situation to fix it or make it better.

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It provides no comfort. It's just a piece of information.

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There is a God, he's all powerful, he's present everywhere,

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and he knows all things. But he's not gonna do

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anything to fix this or stop this, or do this

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or do this, or do this or do this or

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do this.

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But find great comfort.

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See it sounds so spiritual. Now I can find great

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comfort that because of his power, he has secured my

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salvation and because of his power, I can be guaranteed

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an eternity where there's no more pain.

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Or suffering death.

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So that, in that sense that power can give me

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comfort for the future, but giving me comfort in any

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immediate distress or pain. I where is comfort in that?

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And I know it's controversial to say that.

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I know people.

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I've received emails people people just like, what are you

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talking about? And I'm like, if you can convince yourself

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that you find comfort in that, well, congratulations. I don't

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want to be the one to ruin it.

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I just don't. I just don't get it.

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And I and I talked about this that in a

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lot of the messages we even I even challenged all

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of you and and and, which was a challenge obviously

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to the people at church. Well, but I mean people

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have to listen to the podcast for it to for them.

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To get the challenge.

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But my challenge was when we say God brings comfort,

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what do we mean by that?

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What comfort?

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How are we defining comfort? Is it just a feeling?

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Oh I got a feeling. Oh I know, my house

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just burnt down and my child died, but I've got comfort.

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What is it just a feeling.

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You get God just gives you a good feeling?

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Is it comfort?

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Because you know, well God is going to you know,

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I'm going to go to the mailbox in twenty four

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hours and there's going to be a check covering everything

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that I need and I'll be able to really be

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able to rebuild and it will.

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Even be a better house.

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Is that the comfort that God's going to actually intervene

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in a some kind of supernatural way. Well, we know

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that doesn't always happen. I mean, right, so then is

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there comfort?

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What comfort? So then, and I.

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Told everyone to really formulate what do you mean by comfort?

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What do you mean by that?

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Is it just a feeling? What is and what is

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the feeling based off just because you're supposed to to

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have it? So I challenge that, and then not only that,

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I asked not only to ask everyone, what is this comfort? Well?

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How do you get it? Do you just is it

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just handed to you?

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Like? Right?

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Well? So what is it? And how do you get it?

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So we talked about all of that.

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We've been talking about it, and I'm still just as

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perplexed by it. But you go to sermon after sermon

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after sermon, oh, comfort, comfort, We get comfort God comforts

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as people comfort comfort, And I'm like, oh man, why

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do we take.

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Thing? It just seems so frustrating.

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So what I'm going to do is just talk a

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little bit more about this, but I do want to

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explain kind of a struggle that I'm I'm having a

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little bit here. One of the things I've noticed obviously,

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twenty twenty four has been a big year of change,

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right because for my entire twenty three twenty four years

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years of ministry every Sunday morning, Sunday school Sunday morning,

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Sunday night, Wednesday night, right, so I get four hours

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of teaching behind the pulpit every week for twenty four years.

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Other than just a few times when I would miss

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or we'd have to cancel or something, but basically every

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single week I was guaranteed four hours of teaching. So

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then it made it pretty like if I did something

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on a podcast, right, I could kind of throw out

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the idea in the podcast, and then I could develop that,

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and then on Weesday, say Monday or Tuesday, I do

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a podcast or a broadcast and I kind of throw

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out an idea. Then on Wednesday I could stand behind

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the pulpit and then present it in a more preaching

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way and it came across like whatever I didn't like

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about how it came across on the podcast, then I

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could improve it for the sermon. Right, So then if

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so Monday and Tuesday broadcast could be taken care of Wednesday,

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then Thursday, Friday or Saturday, any of those broadcasts, then

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I got three hours on Sunday to do that. Well,

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I no longer have that. I just now have possibly

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two hours on a Sunday morning because you know, as

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everyone knows, the churches were just kind of waiting for

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the end.

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Of it, right, So.

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That that has dramatically impacted things. So there's a lot

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of like, Okay, we talk about it on the podcast,

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and I'm not super happy with it, but that I

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don't necessarily have. And so then when I get to

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church on Sunday morning, it's like, well, I don't have

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Sunday night how to And so I'm still trying to

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formulate a lot of that and I've definitely seen it

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having a negative consequence on how I present things. So

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I'm going I'm definitely got to get better at that.

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But on this particular subject, you know, and roundabout way

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I thought on Sunday morning, I was just gonna be

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able to briefly mention it, but it turned into a

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longer I mean, I went way overtime went I almost

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went an hour and a half.

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Like that's way too long. That's way too long.

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So but I felt, well, once I kind of realized

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I don't think these people are getting it, like, I

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felt like I had to redo it all. So I

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want to at least talk about this, all right, ladies

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and gentlemen, So let's just come up with a basic

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principle that we all need.

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Right when we go through the Bible and we see.

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Promises or provision or action or anything along those lines,

346
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we got to be very careful with just reaching into

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the text, pulling out of the text, and then trying

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to claim that that promise is for me, that comfort

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is for me, that provision is for me, so that

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I can find some kind of peace, some kind of comfort,

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some kind of.

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Hope, some kind of expectation.

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Because if I'm taking things that are not for me

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and I'm finding some kind of peace, hope, comfort, whatever

355
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the case may be, I'm only fooling myself. And when

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the when the walls come crumbling down, when the everything

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collapses in and on itself, then you're kind of left

358
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there going.

359
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Well, what happened? What happened?

360
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Well, what happened is you were clinging to promises to

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give you hope and peace and comfort that wasn't for you,

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and you took a specific promise or a specific kind

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of comfort and you took it and transferred it to

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your situation when no, there may be comfort for you,

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but not that specific type of comfort. So I just

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want to spend a little time. And I know that

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most of you probably don't think this is a big deal,

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but to me, it's a big deal. It's like if

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you go to a doctor and they're giving you just

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saying whatever, saying whatever they think you want to hear,

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so that you walk away with comfort and peace and

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you feel so much better. But reality that nothing has changed.

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You still got the disease. You're still going to die,

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but they gave you some some fraudilent promises. Oh you

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feel so much better. That is horrible evil. And I

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think so much preaching is we offer so much just trash,

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and everyone takes it and goes, oh, but it was

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a great sermon. What good is a great sermon if

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you've been misled?

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Oh?

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So drives me crazy. So drives me crazy. So let's consider.

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So here's my concern is that many pastors take Isaiah

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forty verse one and teach about you and I having comfort.

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And we've mentioned this now over and over and over

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and over again. They may also add other scripture in

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between Isaiah forty and fifty five in this section to

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offer us comfort as well. They may use things about

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God being Creator and his mighty power. Textually, I think

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I can argue this isn't for us, and what comfort

390
00:21:06.039 --> 00:21:10.039
if we really just honest with ourselves. Is there to

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be found in God being all powerful unless that power

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00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:22.440
is actively being utilized to fix whatever is causing you

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00:21:22.759 --> 00:21:26.200
are me pain and distress.

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It's theoretical, it's not practical.

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So when we look at the contextual application of Isaiah

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forty one, or Isaiah chapter forty verse one, all the

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way to Isiah the end of Isaiah fifty five, and

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we look at the comfort that it possibly offers, I

399
00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:53.079
think we're going to see something different. And even though

400
00:21:53.319 --> 00:21:57.720
many pastors apply the passage directly to individual believers today,

401
00:21:57.960 --> 00:22:03.000
emphasizing a general and encouragement and offering some kind of

402
00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:12.599
hope in God's power, this approach misinterprets the specific context

403
00:22:13.000 --> 00:22:14.359
of Isaiah.

404
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Chapter forty, which was written.

405
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To exiled Israel facing the historical reality of Babylonian captivity.

406
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I do not know how many times I can repeat this.

407
00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:34.200
So this comfort in Isaiah forty verse one cannot state,

408
00:22:34.440 --> 00:22:39.640
cannot be more clear. Here is rooted in God's promise

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00:22:40.240 --> 00:22:48.960
of a specific deliverance, the return from exile. So if

410
00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:51.559
we just take a few moments to understand again the

411
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original context and comfort in Isaiah forty verse one, Isaiah

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forty verse one, as we have already read, opens with comfort,

413
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comfort my people, speaking directly to Israel, at a time

414
00:23:02.720 --> 00:23:06.119
when they were enduring the consequences of their rebellion through exile.

415
00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:10.279
This message was a divine assurance that despite their suffering,

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God had a plan for their physical and national restoration.

417
00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:19.240
That's why God comfort It's not like hey find comfort

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00:23:19.240 --> 00:23:23.039
in My power, and it's theoretical no comfort be comforted

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in the fact that I am Creator and I'm all powerful,

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because I'm going to physically and nationally restore you.

421
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Not only in its historical context, I think some.

422
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Of it even points beyond even our time to win.

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Israel is fully restored, as all the promises mentioned in

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Ezekiel and other places and arounding involving the New Covenant.

425
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So the comfort in Isaiah forty through fifty five, as

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00:23:54.920 --> 00:23:58.160
we have now stated multiple times, is not general. It

427
00:23:58.240 --> 00:24:02.319
is tied to a specific promise of deliverance. God in

428
00:24:02.359 --> 00:24:04.799
Isaiah forty through fifty five. Anyone should be able to

429
00:24:04.839 --> 00:24:08.400
read this is reassuring Israel that punishment is ending and

430
00:24:08.519 --> 00:24:09.839
that He will soon add.

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00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:14.960
To bring them home. This is a practical comfort.

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For a people facing the very real prospect of being

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00:24:20.839 --> 00:24:24.200
freed from captivity. This is real comfort based on what

434
00:24:24.279 --> 00:24:29.200
they're facing the reality of being freed. It's not theoretical,

435
00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:33.559
it's not mystical, it's not allegorical.

436
00:24:33.880 --> 00:24:35.640
It's no, it's real.

437
00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:46.839
God's power alone, God being creator and all powerful and

438
00:24:47.000 --> 00:24:53.759
present everywhere at all times, isn't inherently comforting unless it's

439
00:24:53.799 --> 00:24:57.799
being actively used on behalf of those in distress. Now,

440
00:24:57.839 --> 00:25:00.599
in Isaiah forty through fifty five, God his power is

441
00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:06.200
demonstrated through his actions. His creation power is directed as

442
00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:10.240
directly tied to his authority over the nations and his

443
00:25:10.319 --> 00:25:14.960
ability to use cyrus to free his people, his power,

444
00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:16.279
his sovereignty.

445
00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:17.799
It's not theoretical.

446
00:25:17.799 --> 00:25:21.359
In Isaiah forty through fifty five, it's specifically going to

447
00:25:21.400 --> 00:25:24.640
be activated in that situation. You can't be You can

448
00:25:24.720 --> 00:25:27.759
preach to everyone, Hey, God is all powerful, fine comfort,

449
00:25:28.039 --> 00:25:29.039
What good is that comfort?

450
00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:30.920
Unless God? What is God going to do? He's going

451
00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:32.680
to raise my mother from the dead? Is he going

452
00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:34.000
to raise my father from the dead?

453
00:25:34.200 --> 00:25:34.599
Is he going to do?

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00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:35.599
What does he see?

455
00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:39.759
Then that power is just theoretical. Now if you tie

456
00:25:39.799 --> 00:25:44.640
the power to something specific that he has done, well,

457
00:25:44.920 --> 00:25:47.279
he has forgiven all of my sins, removed them as

458
00:25:47.279 --> 00:25:49.440
the east from the west. He's made me a child

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00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:52.039
of God, He's translated me from the kingdom of darkness

460
00:25:52.079 --> 00:25:53.880
to the kingdom of light. And now my name is

461
00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:56.000
written in the Lamb's book of life, and I will

462
00:25:56.039 --> 00:25:58.119
be an eternity, will will be no more pain, no

463
00:25:58.200 --> 00:25:59.400
more suffering, and no more death.

464
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Now I can find comfort.

465
00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:06.839
And what God has done specifically and that thing, then

466
00:26:06.920 --> 00:26:13.480
the comfort makes sense. When we speak of Israel, God's

467
00:26:13.519 --> 00:26:17.000
power was comfort. God's power was a comfort because it

468
00:26:17.079 --> 00:26:22.200
was actively moving to change their situation. They could take

469
00:26:22.279 --> 00:26:24.960
heart and his might because it was being directed towards

470
00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:28.559
their deliverance and a tangible and this is most important

471
00:26:29.039 --> 00:26:32.279
promised way, because all of this deals with the covenantal

472
00:26:32.359 --> 00:26:35.640
relationship and the promise that you're going to go into captivity,

473
00:26:35.799 --> 00:26:38.160
but I will bring you out and I'm going to

474
00:26:38.200 --> 00:26:41.640
bring judgment on those who brought you into captivity. It's

475
00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:45.599
all connected to specific promises the power. So when we

476
00:26:45.680 --> 00:26:47.920
look at these things, you can't just rip them out

477
00:26:47.920 --> 00:26:51.039
of context and say you get comfort, and you get comfort,

478
00:26:51.079 --> 00:26:53.240
and you get comfort, and all of you should find

479
00:26:53.240 --> 00:26:56.720
comfort because God is all powerful. Well that's great, Pastor

480
00:26:56.720 --> 00:26:59.319
are you still preaching my child's funeral? Do you think

481
00:26:59.359 --> 00:27:12.119
his power show up and raise them from the dead. See,

482
00:27:12.119 --> 00:27:15.400
whenever you have a pastor who applies Isaiah forty verse one,

483
00:27:15.480 --> 00:27:18.359
or much of Isaiah forty through fifty five directly to

484
00:27:18.440 --> 00:27:23.720
Christians today without any context, they risk offering a theoretical

485
00:27:23.960 --> 00:27:27.839
or abstract comfort, emphasizing God's power without grounding it in

486
00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:32.119
any specific promise relevant to the listener's actual circumstance. And

487
00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:35.559
that's what we heard in many of these sermons, and

488
00:27:35.599 --> 00:27:37.839
some of the sermons you haven't heard unless you've been

489
00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:40.480
also listening to sermons on Isaiah forty through fifty five.

490
00:27:40.599 --> 00:27:45.319
It's just theoretical nonsense, Oh fine, comfort in God's power,

491
00:27:45.319 --> 00:27:48.200
And everybody in the congregation's like, amen, I'm a what

492
00:27:48.279 --> 00:27:51.960
are you aim any It's theoretical. It's of no value

493
00:27:52.039 --> 00:27:55.880
unless you apply it to something specific and only that

494
00:27:56.240 --> 00:27:59.160
you're taking the comfort being offered to those people, shoving

495
00:27:59.200 --> 00:28:02.000
them out and asserting yourself in it and claiming it's

496
00:28:02.039 --> 00:28:05.240
all for you, which is another major problem in this

497
00:28:05.359 --> 00:28:05.799
that we've.

498
00:28:05.680 --> 00:28:07.799
Been talking about.

499
00:28:09.720 --> 00:28:13.119
If God's power is presented without an understanding of his

500
00:28:13.200 --> 00:28:16.759
specific promise or action, it will feel distant, it will

501
00:28:16.759 --> 00:28:20.559
feel impersonal, it will leave the listener wondering how this

502
00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:24.359
comfort applies to them when they aren't seeing any concrete

503
00:28:24.400 --> 00:28:28.519
intervention in their own lives. This leaves people disillusioned, discourage,

504
00:28:28.640 --> 00:28:32.240
and start deconstructing because of like, none of this stuff works.

505
00:28:33.880 --> 00:28:36.759
And if God's power is somehow promised to me and

506
00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:38.960
I'm supposed to find comfort in it, then the first

507
00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:40.880
thing I want to do with his power is to

508
00:28:40.920 --> 00:28:43.559
remove my sinful nature so that I never said again,

509
00:28:43.880 --> 00:28:46.720
then all the problems would be over. But obviously he's

510
00:28:46.759 --> 00:28:49.559
not even using his power to remove my sinful nature.

511
00:28:49.640 --> 00:28:54.079
He's not using his power to end human trafficking, sexual trafficking, cancer, disease,

512
00:28:54.319 --> 00:29:02.400
war storms, or anything. And I say that people like, oh,

513
00:29:02.519 --> 00:29:04.400
you sound like an atheist. No, I'm looking as someone

514
00:29:04.400 --> 00:29:06.039
who can look at the world and go, that's what's

515
00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:08.640
really happening now. Am I denying his power?

516
00:29:08.839 --> 00:29:09.640
Absolutely? Not.

517
00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:11.599
Am I saying God is not all powerful?

518
00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:13.240
He is all powerful.

519
00:29:13.400 --> 00:29:15.960
But I cannot take that and then just say, hey,

520
00:29:16.039 --> 00:29:18.240
you're going through a tough time. Well, remember God is

521
00:29:18.279 --> 00:29:24.240
all powerful. He'll fix everything. Stop telling people that he

522
00:29:24.519 --> 00:29:30.000
will make all things right an eternity. You have no

523
00:29:30.519 --> 00:29:35.559
assurance that God's power is coming to your rescue. When

524
00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:41.079
you're suffering any tangible, real problem in life, you have

525
00:29:41.240 --> 00:29:44.519
no assurance that He is coming to do anything for.

526
00:29:44.519 --> 00:29:46.839
You, none zero.

527
00:29:47.599 --> 00:29:53.640
You have no way to know that His power didn't

528
00:29:53.680 --> 00:29:57.839
show up to save John the Baptist. His power didn't

529
00:29:57.839 --> 00:29:59.960
show up to save any of the Apostles.

530
00:29:59.440 --> 00:30:04.079
Who were marred word.

531
00:30:06.279 --> 00:30:08.640
His power didn't show up to save all those Christians

532
00:30:08.680 --> 00:30:11.839
who were martyred and killed during persecutions in Rome.

533
00:30:17.839 --> 00:30:18.839
Now we want to think.

534
00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:21.640
That the power is always right there, activated to do something.

535
00:30:21.680 --> 00:30:25.119
The power is there because because it's God. But the

536
00:30:25.240 --> 00:30:29.680
power for us seems to be focused on saving us

537
00:30:30.079 --> 00:30:33.759
from our sin, raising us from our from our spiritual death,

538
00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:38.240
giving us eternal life, Christ's righteousness being imputed to my account.

539
00:30:38.440 --> 00:30:40.559
And then there will come a time.

540
00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:46.240
No more pain, no more suffering, no more death than

541
00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:56.839
a new body. If you present God's power with an

542
00:30:56.880 --> 00:31:01.400
out an understanding of specific promises or actions, it will

543
00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:05.200
feel distant, it will feel impersonal. It will leave you

544
00:31:05.359 --> 00:31:10.279
wondering how the comfort applies when there aren't any concrete

545
00:31:10.599 --> 00:31:16.799
interventions in your life. For Israel, the comfort in Isaiah

546
00:31:16.799 --> 00:31:19.799
forty through fifty five was directly tied to their return

547
00:31:19.880 --> 00:31:20.799
from exile.

548
00:31:21.400 --> 00:31:21.960
It was a.

549
00:31:22.039 --> 00:31:30.680
Physical and historical promise. Now, as a Christian, we may

550
00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:34.480
find hope in God's power and character, but the specific

551
00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:40.559
application of these promises doesn't necessarily guarantee immediate deliverance from

552
00:31:40.640 --> 00:31:46.079
any personal suffering. It doesn't guarantee any deliverance from any suffering.

553
00:31:46.519 --> 00:31:49.720
Now then, yes, but not now.

554
00:31:49.880 --> 00:31:52.200
So when you say, oh, I find great comfort that

555
00:31:52.240 --> 00:31:54.559
God is all powerful, I know that's what you're supposed

556
00:31:54.599 --> 00:31:57.359
to say, because you've been trained to give church answers.

557
00:31:57.559 --> 00:32:01.359
But church answers are just about as worthless as a

558
00:32:01.519 --> 00:32:13.359
Disney fairy tale. Our comfort as a Christian is rooted

559
00:32:13.400 --> 00:32:19.839
in the broader work of God's redemptive plan. It's found

560
00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:22.599
in the fact that Christ ultimately fulfills the themes of

561
00:32:22.640 --> 00:32:29.400
deliverance and restoration on a spiritual level. This does not

562
00:32:29.640 --> 00:32:34.200
translate in any way, shape or form to an immediate

563
00:32:34.279 --> 00:32:39.039
relief from pain. It just points to a future hope.

564
00:32:39.079 --> 00:32:42.440
We can fight and comfort in what Christ did. We

565
00:32:42.559 --> 00:32:47.079
can find comfort in his death, burial, resurrection, and ascending

566
00:32:47.119 --> 00:32:49.000
to the right hand of the Father, from which he

567
00:32:49.079 --> 00:32:51.079
will come to judge the living and the dead. And

568
00:32:51.119 --> 00:32:53.480
then we will come back and then his power will

569
00:32:53.519 --> 00:32:57.039
be full on full display. He will judge, he will destroy,

570
00:32:57.359 --> 00:32:59.799
he will set up a kingdom, and he will fulfill all.

571
00:32:59.759 --> 00:33:00.960
Those promises to Israel.

572
00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:03.400
Everything will be done tangible, it will be done real,

573
00:33:03.640 --> 00:33:07.279
it will be done practically. But we cannot take all

574
00:33:07.319 --> 00:33:11.440
of this power and somehow, Oh, you've got power, You've

575
00:33:11.480 --> 00:33:24.799
got comfort, You've got comfort, You've got power. God's power

576
00:33:24.920 --> 00:33:34.480
alone feels abstract. His character, his faithfulness, compassion, and redemptive purpose,

577
00:33:34.880 --> 00:33:38.119
is consistently applicable. When we come to the fact that

578
00:33:38.160 --> 00:33:41.400
God is faithful, that He's compassionate, that he redeems, it's

579
00:33:41.440 --> 00:33:45.160
applicable to us. We can be comforted as a Christian

580
00:33:45.200 --> 00:33:48.880
today by God's unchanging character and his long term commitment

581
00:33:48.920 --> 00:33:51.039
to redeem and restore. But we got to put it

582
00:33:51.079 --> 00:33:53.279
in its proper context.

583
00:33:56.359 --> 00:33:58.240
Isaiah forty through fifty.

584
00:33:57.960 --> 00:34:03.319
Five foreshadows coming of the Servant, which obviously, in some

585
00:34:03.359 --> 00:34:05.279
sections we would say points to Christ.

586
00:34:07.079 --> 00:34:07.880
This points to a.

587
00:34:07.839 --> 00:34:11.239
Comfort that may not always that may not always change

588
00:34:11.280 --> 00:34:15.320
immediate situations, but it assures of God's eternal promises. So

589
00:34:15.679 --> 00:34:17.800
anything that points to Christ, we can say we find

590
00:34:17.840 --> 00:34:20.639
comfort in that, but that doesn't mean anything is going

591
00:34:20.639 --> 00:34:26.159
to get better in the here and now. If we

592
00:34:26.320 --> 00:34:32.760
learn the historical context, it can help us today understand

593
00:34:32.840 --> 00:34:35.840
that God's comfort is often part of a larger plan

594
00:34:37.639 --> 00:34:43.800
that may not always be immediate, may not always be visible,

595
00:34:44.440 --> 00:34:49.239
may not always be personal. It would encourage us to

596
00:34:49.320 --> 00:34:54.159
trust in God's timing and purpose that goes way beyond

597
00:34:54.199 --> 00:35:04.880
our present circumstances. Comfort ye, Comfort ye, my people.

598
00:35:05.639 --> 00:35:13.280
My people are not you. It's not me, It's the people.

599
00:35:13.320 --> 00:35:17.280
In Isaiah thirty nine, where we read these words Isaiah

600
00:35:17.320 --> 00:35:20.519
thirty nine to five, then said Isaiah Hezekiah, hear the

601
00:35:20.519 --> 00:35:21.519
word of the Lord our host.

602
00:35:21.760 --> 00:35:24.840
Behold the days come that all that is in thine house,

603
00:35:25.159 --> 00:35:25.679
and that.

604
00:35:25.599 --> 00:35:28.559
Which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day,

605
00:35:28.719 --> 00:35:30.079
should be carried to Babylon.

606
00:35:30.360 --> 00:35:31.280
Nothing should be left.

607
00:35:31.280 --> 00:35:34.920
Saith the Lord, and of thy sons thou shall issue

608
00:35:34.920 --> 00:35:37.880
from thee. And of thy sons that shall issue from

609
00:35:37.920 --> 00:35:40.679
thee which thou shalt beget, shall they take away, and

610
00:35:40.719 --> 00:35:43.039
they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the King

611
00:35:43.519 --> 00:35:51.440
of Babylon. Babylonian captivity was coming. They suffered during the

612
00:35:51.480 --> 00:35:54.400
Babylonian captivity for seventy years.

613
00:35:54.960 --> 00:35:57.960
But God had already. He already knew that was going

614
00:35:58.000 --> 00:35:58.400
to happen.

615
00:35:58.519 --> 00:36:00.679
He already told that it was going to happen, and

616
00:36:00.719 --> 00:36:03.400
He already had prepared the comfort for them when they

617
00:36:03.400 --> 00:36:05.960
were there, and as that time was winding up, the

618
00:36:06.000 --> 00:36:08.800
words of Isaiah would then be given to them.

619
00:36:08.920 --> 00:36:10.119
Not by Isaiah himself.

620
00:36:11.079 --> 00:36:14.000
Isaiah's way dead before it happens. But these words of

621
00:36:14.039 --> 00:36:18.440
comfort come to them. It's not theoretical, it's not abstract.

622
00:36:18.599 --> 00:36:22.639
It's practical dealing with their practical situation where God's power

623
00:36:22.880 --> 00:36:25.679
and God's attributes are going to be utilized to bring

624
00:36:25.719 --> 00:36:29.519
about the power, to bring about the circumstances and bring

625
00:36:29.559 --> 00:36:33.800
about the release and the deliverance from real captivity. And

626
00:36:33.880 --> 00:36:37.679
I cannot then find that same comfort in my life

627
00:36:38.039 --> 00:36:41.840
based off these things. It's a fact God is all powerful.

628
00:36:41.880 --> 00:36:43.679
It's a fact that God is omni present. It's a

629
00:36:43.719 --> 00:36:47.199
fact that God is omniscient. It's not a fact that

630
00:36:47.320 --> 00:36:50.519
any of those attributes will be utilized to help me,

631
00:36:51.159 --> 00:36:55.119
help you, or help this world and its immediate context.

632
00:36:55.760 --> 00:36:58.679
It does mean that that power has been utilized for

633
00:36:59.199 --> 00:37:04.159
to bring about salvation, to save us, to preserve us,

634
00:37:04.440 --> 00:37:08.639
so that we will be presented in heaven and then

635
00:37:08.719 --> 00:37:12.239
receive a glorified body. That power will be utilized to

636
00:37:12.360 --> 00:37:15.119
resurrect us from the dead. We could get into that,

637
00:37:15.400 --> 00:37:18.079
but as far as in our practical.

638
00:37:17.639 --> 00:37:26.079
Lives, you want peace.

639
00:37:26.320 --> 00:37:29.199
The peace we have is the peace focusing on what

640
00:37:29.239 --> 00:37:32.719
we are salvation and what we will have in eternity.

641
00:37:33.559 --> 00:37:34.360
You want comfort.

642
00:37:34.599 --> 00:37:37.320
The comfort is what God has done for us in salvation.

643
00:37:37.840 --> 00:37:40.079
Peace and comfort about how things are going to work

644
00:37:40.119 --> 00:37:45.800
on workout in this life. You're gonna find yourself broken.

645
00:37:53.400 --> 00:37:53.559
Now.

646
00:37:53.599 --> 00:37:56.119
I know that was a little bit redundant, but I'm

647
00:37:56.159 --> 00:37:59.480
really to me that this is the whole crux of

648
00:37:59.519 --> 00:38:02.280
this comes right here. All of these sermons go to

649
00:38:02.320 --> 00:38:04.880
Isaiah forty. Like comfort, comfort, all right, I'm gonna give

650
00:38:04.880 --> 00:38:07.079
all of you guys some comfort today so you can

651
00:38:07.159 --> 00:38:08.159
leave with some comfort.

652
00:38:08.280 --> 00:38:10.960
You came to church and I'm going to provide you comfort, and.

653
00:38:10.880 --> 00:38:16.920
They're giving you it's a lie, fraudulent. You should be

654
00:38:17.000 --> 00:38:25.360
ticked off.

655
00:38:29.360 --> 00:38:31.679
Now. I don't know if that's helpful. Now. What I

656
00:38:31.719 --> 00:38:32.320
could have done.

657
00:38:32.760 --> 00:38:34.440
In fact, what I had done, I had a sermon

658
00:38:34.559 --> 00:38:37.639
queued up, had about ten sermons queued up on Isaiah forty,

659
00:38:37.719 --> 00:38:39.280
but all of them were going to take you an hour,

660
00:38:39.400 --> 00:38:42.000
two hours, three hours to review, even if I didn't

661
00:38:42.039 --> 00:38:44.039
review all of them, and I'm gonna end up basically

662
00:38:44.079 --> 00:38:48.719
saying what I just said, In fact, reviewing any more

663
00:38:48.760 --> 00:38:52.400
sermons on Isaiah forty at least the beginning versus are

664
00:38:52.880 --> 00:38:56.000
it's almost a waste of time because it's the same thing.

665
00:38:56.280 --> 00:38:59.679
They take the passage, apply it to us, and just

666
00:39:00.119 --> 00:39:03.599
destroy anything here about it. That's why we're doing this

667
00:39:03.639 --> 00:39:08.880
work on Isaiah forty through fifty five. So on Sunday,

668
00:39:10.239 --> 00:39:12.119
we will look at comfort you, comfort you, we will

669
00:39:12.119 --> 00:39:13.440
look at the Hebrew word, we'll look at all the

670
00:39:13.480 --> 00:39:15.960
places it's used in Isaiah. And I will once again

671
00:39:16.159 --> 00:39:23.920
say some of these exact same things. But I gotta

672
00:39:24.119 --> 00:39:27.079
if we don't get this point, then I then just

673
00:39:27.119 --> 00:39:31.079
forget everything. In fact, if I'm just being honest with you,

674
00:39:31.199 --> 00:39:33.400
I kind of what that's what I feel like doing, just,

675
00:39:33.559 --> 00:39:35.800
you know, just forget it. You know what we started

676
00:39:35.840 --> 00:39:38.760
Isaiah forty to fifty five through fifty five. There's almost

677
00:39:38.760 --> 00:39:41.000
a part of me says, just forget it, just forget it.

678
00:39:41.000 --> 00:39:44.320
It's a waste of time. It's just a waste of time. Nobody,

679
00:39:45.639 --> 00:39:47.679
it's not going to change the way it's preached. I

680
00:39:47.719 --> 00:39:51.519
can tell you that. But I hope we can get

681
00:39:51.559 --> 00:39:53.760
past Isaiah forty one and get into some of the

682
00:39:53.800 --> 00:39:56.199
other things. I'm hoping we can, so we will see,

683
00:39:56.320 --> 00:39:59.239
we will see, all right, I'll stop there. I know

684
00:39:59.320 --> 00:40:01.360
that was thirty forty minutes.

685
00:40:01.480 --> 00:40:02.239
Man alive.

686
00:40:04.199 --> 00:40:08.280
Yeah. I don't find any comfort in doing this. In fact,

687
00:40:08.320 --> 00:40:10.719
I feel more frustration than I even did this. In fact,

688
00:40:10.840 --> 00:40:12.639
I almost want to delete it. In fact, I don't

689
00:40:12.639 --> 00:40:14.920
know what I'm going to do. But there you have it.

690
00:40:15.119 --> 00:40:15.920
I don't know what to do.

691
00:40:16.760 --> 00:40:18.960
I don't know how to fix the problem, ladies and gentlemen.

692
00:40:19.119 --> 00:40:21.079
But it's not like some made up problem.

693
00:40:21.280 --> 00:40:22.519
It's literally.

694
00:40:24.159 --> 00:40:31.519
The misuse, misapplication, misinterpretation, twisting. And I really what I

695
00:40:31.559 --> 00:40:35.960
feel most upset about. What I feel most upset about

696
00:40:37.280 --> 00:40:39.280
is that this is presented to people who go through

697
00:40:39.280 --> 00:40:44.360
difficult times. And I guess if it makes them feel better, great,

698
00:40:44.400 --> 00:40:46.599
But is it What good does it do to feel

699
00:40:46.599 --> 00:40:50.239
better when you're feeling better based off a lie?

700
00:40:49.400 --> 00:41:02.199
I don't know. We'll stop there, God Blas