Dec. 15, 2024

Isaiah 40:1-2 Pt 2

Isaiah 40:1-2 Pt 2

We conclude our study of Isaiah 40:1-2

Spreaker podcast player badge
Apple Podcasts podcast player badge
Spotify podcast player badge
PocketCasts podcast player badge
Amazon Music podcast player badge
Overcast podcast player badge
Audible podcast player badge
Castro podcast player badge
iHeartRadio podcast player badge
Castbox podcast player badge
Podchaser podcast player badge
TuneIn podcast player badge
Deezer podcast player badge
Pandora podcast player badge
RadioPublic podcast player badge
Podcast Addict podcast player badge
RSS Feed podcast player badge
YouTube podcast player badge
Fountain podcast player badge
PlayerFM podcast player badge
Goodpods podcast player badge
Podverse podcast player badge
Podyssey podcast player badge
Breaker podcast player badge
Podurama podcast player badge
Audacy podcast player badge
JioSaavn podcast player badge
Spreaker podcast player icon Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Spotify podcast player icon PocketCasts podcast player icon Amazon Music podcast player icon Overcast podcast player icon Audible podcast player icon Castro podcast player icon iHeartRadio podcast player icon Castbox podcast player icon Podchaser podcast player icon TuneIn podcast player icon Deezer podcast player icon Pandora podcast player icon RadioPublic podcast player icon Podcast Addict podcast player icon RSS Feed podcast player icon YouTube podcast player icon Fountain podcast player icon PlayerFM podcast player icon Goodpods podcast player icon Podverse podcast player icon Podyssey podcast player icon Breaker podcast player icon Podurama podcast player icon Audacy podcast player icon JioSaavn podcast player icon

We conclude our study of Isaiah 40:1-2

WEBVTT

1
00:00:01.080 --> 00:00:05.919
All right, Isaiah chapter forty. Our goal this morning is

2
00:00:05.960 --> 00:00:08.519
to finish verses one and two. We are starting the

3
00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:11.960
actual study of the text itself. In the first hour,

4
00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:14.599
we did a number of things. I'll go through all

5
00:00:14.599 --> 00:00:17.320
the things we accomplished in the first hour, and then

6
00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:20.120
we'll move on and not spend too much time going

7
00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:22.719
back over it. All right, So in the first hour, obviously,

8
00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:26.199
we read Isaiah chapter forty, verses one through two, which

9
00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:28.480
we have read now countless time since we began to

10
00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:32.119
study of Isaiah forty through fifty five, because this began

11
00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:35.159
as a whole new section. We looked at the textual context.

12
00:00:35.240 --> 00:00:38.359
We talked about how Isaiah forty one through two serves

13
00:00:38.359 --> 00:00:41.159
as the opening to Isaiah forty through fifty five, how

14
00:00:41.159 --> 00:00:43.880
there's a major dramatic shift in its tone from one

15
00:00:43.960 --> 00:00:46.920
through thirty nine, which is judgment and warnings. Forty through

16
00:00:46.920 --> 00:00:50.200
fifty five is about comfort, hope, and restoration. We looked

17
00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:52.960
at the immediate context, which is Isaiah thirty nine, six

18
00:00:53.039 --> 00:00:57.399
through seven, showing us that the immediate context is Babylonian captivity.

19
00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:02.000
We talked about the broader text, which is Isaiah forty

20
00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:07.879
through fifty five is addressing Judah, specifically in their Babylonian exile,

21
00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:11.560
which was historically fulfilled in five thirty nine BC when

22
00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:14.640
Cyrus allowed the Jews to return. So we talked about that.

23
00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:19.120
We talked about the historical context, which is the Babylonian

24
00:01:19.159 --> 00:01:22.000
exile itself, which goes from six Zho five PC to

25
00:01:22.040 --> 00:01:24.879
five point thirty nine BC. We talked about the destruction

26
00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:27.799
of Jerusalem and the Temple and five eighty six PC.

27
00:01:28.239 --> 00:01:31.840
We talked about how they lost their land, their national identity. Basically,

28
00:01:31.879 --> 00:01:35.560
they are suffering. In the midst of that suffering, they're

29
00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:38.760
going to be their offered comfort, reassurance, and hope. We

30
00:01:38.840 --> 00:01:42.400
talked about all the philosophical problems they may struggle with

31
00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:45.359
this message considering what was going on. We talked about

32
00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:48.560
the grammar and the language that is used. We looked

33
00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:51.959
at the phrase comfort, comfort my people. We took it

34
00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:56.359
apart comfort comfort. We talked about what that emphasized my people,

35
00:01:56.799 --> 00:01:59.239
reminded them that they were still a part of God's covenant.

36
00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:03.920
We talked about speak tenderly to Jerusalem, which really indicates

37
00:02:04.200 --> 00:02:07.120
how this message was to be delivered. It was to

38
00:02:07.159 --> 00:02:10.960
be spoken tenderly. It's spoken to Jerusalem because that's the

39
00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:14.159
capital of the Southern Kingdom. We talked about the phrase

40
00:02:14.439 --> 00:02:18.599
her warfare is ended. This indicated that her hardship has

41
00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:21.599
come to an end, even though they were still experiencing it.

42
00:02:21.879 --> 00:02:24.120
We talked about all that confusion that could lead to

43
00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:27.800
her iniquity is pardoned and she has received from the

44
00:02:27.840 --> 00:02:31.080
Lord's hand double for all her sins. We looked at historically,

45
00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:33.800
there's debate on exactly what that means. We looked at

46
00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:37.039
all the different possibilities. That was all the first hour.

47
00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:40.000
That's the quickest review I've ever done. All right, are

48
00:02:40.039 --> 00:02:42.639
you good? All right? Hopefully, and of course it'll be

49
00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:45.319
uploaded as soon as I get home, so you can

50
00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:48.159
go listen to part one. All right, here we go. Now,

51
00:02:48.280 --> 00:02:54.120
let's deal with the exegetical insights from this section again

52
00:02:54.199 --> 00:02:57.960
Isaiah forty one through two. All right, so let's just

53
00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:00.479
point out some basic things. The first I want you

54
00:03:00.520 --> 00:03:04.240
to see, look carefully, comfort ye, comfort ye, my people.

55
00:03:04.439 --> 00:03:09.120
Look at those last three words, saith your God. What

56
00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:13.319
I want you to see here is the divine initiative

57
00:03:13.479 --> 00:03:17.199
that is being utilized here. This comfort comes not from

58
00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:23.039
human effort, but is a declaration from whom God This

59
00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:29.639
emphasizes the sovereignty of God and initiating the reconciliation and

60
00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:34.240
the restoration. This is divine initiative, right. God is the

61
00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:37.000
one initiating this. God is the one bringing the message.

62
00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:38.759
God is the one who's going to bring the comfort.

63
00:03:38.919 --> 00:03:40.840
God is the one who's going to bring about the restoration.

64
00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:44.159
God is the one in charge of the whole situation.

65
00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:48.120
So immediately, right from the beginning here we see the

66
00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:51.639
divine initiative. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God.

67
00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:53.840
In fact, if you think about it, God is the

68
00:03:53.840 --> 00:04:00.000
one initiating what the message to be taken to the paper.

69
00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:03.319
He's initiating the message to be taken to the people,

70
00:04:03.719 --> 00:04:06.599
and he's initiating what the comfort that's going to be

71
00:04:07.400 --> 00:04:10.520
given to the people. As far as the actions are concerned,

72
00:04:10.680 --> 00:04:13.960
this shows that God is the one initiating all of this. Okay,

73
00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:16.639
it's not well, we could get into a lot of

74
00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:19.480
discussion here, but for now we'll just continue with that.

75
00:04:19.879 --> 00:04:23.160
All right. Second, I want you to see the divine initiative. Secondly,

76
00:04:23.399 --> 00:04:26.480
I want you to see the covenantal faithfulness. I'm gonna

77
00:04:26.519 --> 00:04:30.600
mention the covenants over and over and over and over again,

78
00:04:31.399 --> 00:04:34.680
I cannot stress the importance of that. Okay. The only

79
00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:38.560
way I can state this is the minute you forget

80
00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:42.879
when you're reading the Old Testament, that you're reading God's

81
00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:46.240
interaction with a nation whom he has made a covenant with.

82
00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:49.759
The minute you seem to forget that, then you just

83
00:04:49.879 --> 00:04:52.439
take it and you turn it into I don't know

84
00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:55.040
what you do. You turn it into moralism, you turn

85
00:04:55.079 --> 00:05:00.000
it into somehow promises that are somehow applicable to us.

86
00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:03.399
It's not the same. Let me, I'll try to remind

87
00:05:03.439 --> 00:05:05.399
you of this. And I know this was controversial when

88
00:05:05.399 --> 00:05:07.240
I said it, but I don't care because it's true,

89
00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:11.399
all right. It's just true. So many times when Christians talk,

90
00:05:12.680 --> 00:05:15.680
and we talked about the concept of prayer, right, and

91
00:05:15.720 --> 00:05:19.879
that prayer from a philological perspective is very From a

92
00:05:19.879 --> 00:05:26.480
philosophical and theiological perspective, prayer makes literally no sense, all right.

93
00:05:26.519 --> 00:05:28.279
And here's I know you're not supposed to say that

94
00:05:28.319 --> 00:05:31.680
in church, but it doesn't. Right. So someone says, hey,

95
00:05:32.439 --> 00:05:37.120
this horrible situation happened, let's pray. Does everyone understand how

96
00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:40.759
confusing that, at least in my brain, how confusing that is?

97
00:05:41.199 --> 00:05:44.120
Because we are praying about a horrible situation, but we

98
00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:48.639
are praying to the God that at the very least

99
00:05:49.040 --> 00:05:52.560
allowed it to happen. And if you hold a more

100
00:05:52.680 --> 00:05:56.759
sovereign understanding of God's, a more reform view of God's sovereignty,

101
00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:02.000
not only did he allow it to happen, he decreed

102
00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:05.199
it to happen. So then that makes it very difficult

103
00:06:05.199 --> 00:06:09.199
to know what am I supposed to pray? Am I

104
00:06:09.240 --> 00:06:12.759
supposed to pray to make something better that he decreed?

105
00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:17.480
That seems confusing. Am I supposed to pray to the

106
00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:21.879
God who at the very least allowing it to happen?

107
00:06:22.279 --> 00:06:25.240
That's very confusing, And a lot of our concepts of

108
00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:28.240
prayer is people will run to the Old Testament and

109
00:06:28.399 --> 00:06:31.240
take concepts from there. Well, you get we got to

110
00:06:31.279 --> 00:06:34.839
slow time out. When we have people in the Old

111
00:06:34.839 --> 00:06:38.600
Testament praying, they're praying to God about these situations, but

112
00:06:38.639 --> 00:06:45.079
their prayers are completely controlled by which concept the Covenant.

113
00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:49.079
They can pray for specific things because God made a

114
00:06:49.600 --> 00:06:54.000
covenant with them, right, so their prayer is in accordance

115
00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:58.439
to what the covenant. God promised very specific things to Israel,

116
00:06:58.519 --> 00:07:03.600
right protect provision all of these things. So when they're

117
00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:07.319
encountering something that seems to be contradictory to the Covenant.

118
00:07:07.560 --> 00:07:10.680
They can pray specifically for things, knowing that they're praying

119
00:07:10.680 --> 00:07:15.000
in accordance to God's sovereignty because God made promises to them.

120
00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:18.160
When we come to pray about something, we don't have

121
00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:21.839
those same specific promises as laid out in the Covenant

122
00:07:21.839 --> 00:07:24.319
for Israel. They're very different, right, And we got to

123
00:07:24.360 --> 00:07:27.120
be very careful how we pray because in some cases

124
00:07:27.240 --> 00:07:29.680
are we praying in accordance to God's sovereign plan or

125
00:07:29.720 --> 00:07:33.319
are we praying actually in opposition to it? It raises

126
00:07:33.399 --> 00:07:36.720
lots of questions. But so in the Old Testament, understanding

127
00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:41.279
the covenantal situation makes sense of some of it. Right, Well,

128
00:07:41.319 --> 00:07:43.959
why are they praying that way? Can I pray that way? Well,

129
00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:48.240
they have specific promises about the situation that I don't

130
00:07:48.279 --> 00:07:51.560
necessarily have. Now, we love to try to find those

131
00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:53.959
promises for us in the New Testament and make it

132
00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:56.800
about us, which leads to all kinds of confusion, right

133
00:07:57.040 --> 00:08:00.600
because when people like, well God should do this, and God,

134
00:08:00.680 --> 00:08:02.399
you do this, and then when God doesn't do that,

135
00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:05.560
it leads to a lot of disillusionment and confusion, and

136
00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:07.680
that's why you have many people who are just like

137
00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:12.720
Christianity doesn't work, justless, so waste of time and they

138
00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:15.319
find no comfort in it. Everyone else has to convince

139
00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:18.120
themselves that something is happening, but some people just can't.

140
00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:21.519
So we talked about that covenant is important, and it's

141
00:08:21.560 --> 00:08:26.600
important here. So we have the divine initiative say it's

142
00:08:26.600 --> 00:08:29.240
your God. But where do we have the covenant language

143
00:08:29.240 --> 00:08:31.439
showing up in verse one? We talked about it earlier,

144
00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:35.840
let's just mention it again. Where does the covenant tool

145
00:08:35.879 --> 00:08:42.840
language show up in verse one? My people, my people,

146
00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:47.879
my people. God is reaffirming his unbreakable covenant with them.

147
00:08:48.279 --> 00:08:56.480
Despite them being unfaithful, God is remaining faithful. He promises comfort, forgiveness,

148
00:08:56.600 --> 00:09:01.360
and it highlights God's grace. Comfort you, comfort you, my people.

149
00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:04.840
In other words, he's almost telling the messengers who are

150
00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:08.600
to bring the message, the people you're bringing the message

151
00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:14.720
to is still my people. And there's a covenant relationship,

152
00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:18.120
meaning they can then believe that God will operate in

153
00:09:18.200 --> 00:09:22.919
what and accordance to those covenantal promises. Right Israel can

154
00:09:22.960 --> 00:09:26.159
still believe God's going to fulfill those covenantal promises. We

155
00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:29.399
talked about this in eschatology in many other areas. All right,

156
00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:32.600
So we have the divine initiative, We have the covenantal.

157
00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:35.200
We can say covenantal promises, and I guess we could

158
00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:39.639
call this God's covenantal faithfulness. He's remaining faithful, still referring

159
00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:43.559
to them as his people, even though they have been unfaithful.

160
00:09:43.720 --> 00:09:47.320
All right, So we see the vine initiative, we see

161
00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:51.360
covenantal faithfulness. What else do we have? We have restoration

162
00:09:52.600 --> 00:09:58.840
beyond judgment, restoration beyond judgment. The proclamation that our warfare

163
00:09:58.919 --> 00:10:03.120
is ended and her iniquity as pardon indicates a turning

164
00:10:03.159 --> 00:10:07.080
point in Israel's history. God's judgment has achieved its purpose,

165
00:10:07.320 --> 00:10:13.679
paying the way for their restoration. So they have judgment,

166
00:10:13.720 --> 00:10:16.759
but now they're going to get restoration beyond that. They've

167
00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:20.200
got the judgment. But now by saying your warfare is ended,

168
00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:23.279
your sins have been pardoned, You've received the Lord's hand

169
00:10:23.320 --> 00:10:26.000
double for all your sins. He's going to go above

170
00:10:26.039 --> 00:10:29.279
and beyond just the judgment. And that's a good thing

171
00:10:29.320 --> 00:10:32.000
for them, is it not? Because it's a great thing

172
00:10:32.039 --> 00:10:37.039
for them? All right? Now, we could argue, and I

173
00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:42.159
separated number four from those other three divine initiative. Nobody

174
00:10:42.159 --> 00:10:45.559
can deny that, right my people, No one should be

175
00:10:45.600 --> 00:10:48.080
able to argue that that's pointing to God's covenant unless

176
00:10:48.120 --> 00:10:49.720
you want to make my people us, which is what

177
00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:53.639
preachers do. That's not us. Okay. I know the Heidelberg

178
00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:57.320
Catechism and the first question about what is your only

179
00:10:57.360 --> 00:11:01.159
comfort and death in life? It references Isaiah. But that's

180
00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:06.279
it's not it's not us, okay, that's them, okay. But

181
00:11:06.279 --> 00:11:09.519
because we're we're entering where yeah, I don't know why

182
00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:12.759
preachers do that, but okay, and we see a restoration

183
00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:15.360
that goes above and beyond their judgment. That's the entire

184
00:11:15.399 --> 00:11:19.720
section of Isaiah forty through fifty five. But the fourth one,

185
00:11:20.039 --> 00:11:23.320
I'm just I separated it because this is what others

186
00:11:23.320 --> 00:11:25.559
would say, right, these are not mine words? Is what

187
00:11:25.639 --> 00:11:33.559
someone others would say, foreshadowing redemption, that this foreshadows redemption.

188
00:11:34.120 --> 00:11:36.799
This is how they would put it. The language of

189
00:11:37.240 --> 00:11:39.960
pardon that is used in verse two, is it not

190
00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:47.240
all right? And reconciliation foreshadows the ultimate redemption in Christ

191
00:11:47.960 --> 00:11:51.919
and the broader narrative of scripture. The comfort extends beyond Babylon,

192
00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:57.159
a Babylonian exile to the spiritual restoration of humanity. I'm

193
00:11:57.200 --> 00:12:00.720
gonna say time out, Let's not go there, because the

194
00:12:00.759 --> 00:12:02.759
main thing we need to do here is understand who

195
00:12:02.759 --> 00:12:06.200
it's written to. Right. I know, as Christians, we love

196
00:12:06.279 --> 00:12:08.600
to come in there and just say, hey, move out

197
00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:12.360
of the way, my sins have been pardoned like and

198
00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:13.919
we just want to put us all right there. We

199
00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:17.240
can't do that. So I'm gonna say, from an exogetical

200
00:12:17.320 --> 00:12:22.120
standpoint this, these words are for whom, the people and

201
00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:27.120
the Babylonian captivity. All right, any foreshadowing, we'll talk about

202
00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:29.720
that as we move forward in the book, all right,

203
00:12:29.799 --> 00:12:33.039
or in this section? Does that make sense? So the

204
00:12:33.080 --> 00:12:34.720
main three things I want you to see from an

205
00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:40.360
exogtical is the divine initiative. We see that, the covenantal faithfulness.

206
00:12:40.840 --> 00:12:44.720
You are still my people. You don't feel like my people.

207
00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:47.240
I may not want you to pay my people at

208
00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:51.440
this point, but you're still my people. And at number three, hey,

209
00:12:51.519 --> 00:12:55.759
I'm gonna restore you and go above and beyond your judgment.

210
00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:00.759
Does that sound good? All right? Now, let's look at

211
00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:05.200
the significance for the original recipients. That's what I think

212
00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:07.080
we need to do here. Let's look at the significance

213
00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:13.519
for the original recipients, because that's important, right, yes, right,

214
00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:16.159
So I think we can see three things here. Do

215
00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:18.919
you agree that we can see some hope amid their

216
00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:24.799
exile for the original recipients. For those in exile, Isaiah

217
00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:28.000
forty one through two provided tangible hope that their suffering

218
00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:31.519
was not permanent. It reassured them that God had neither

219
00:13:31.559 --> 00:13:36.000
abandoned them nor forgotten his promises. It does offer hope.

220
00:13:36.039 --> 00:13:39.200
Now we talked about the confusing part of it, but

221
00:13:39.320 --> 00:13:41.799
there's at least some hope. Put it this way, the

222
00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:44.840
fact that someone shows up, it says comfort, ye comfort

223
00:13:44.840 --> 00:13:48.080
email people say it you're God, and they say God

224
00:13:48.120 --> 00:13:50.879
has sent us with a message. If they truly believed

225
00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:55.559
the message was from God, right, if they truly believe that,

226
00:13:55.559 --> 00:13:57.799
that would at least offer them at least hope to

227
00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:02.919
this extent, God has not forgotten us, at least to that.

228
00:14:03.240 --> 00:14:05.960
Now they may not understand all of this, My warfare

229
00:14:06.039 --> 00:14:07.840
is ended. Well, what are you talking about? I'm still

230
00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:10.159
in captivity. Depending on what year you hear that message,

231
00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:13.000
it can be confusing, but at least they know God

232
00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:16.600
still knows where we are. That would at least offer

233
00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:18.200
them a little bit of hope. Can we at least

234
00:14:18.200 --> 00:14:22.399
acknowledge that at least a little bit of hope. Right Second,

235
00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:25.159
it would offer them some form of encouragement, right, and

236
00:14:25.320 --> 00:14:29.600
encouragement to trust the certainty of God's pronouncement her warfare

237
00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:32.320
is ended, encourage the people to trust and his sovereign

238
00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:36.159
ability to deliver. So basically, it's encouraging. God is telling

239
00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:40.120
you your warfare has already ended. Now you're encouraged to

240
00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:44.120
do what trust it even though you can't see it.

241
00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:48.080
This is an encouragement for them to trust that which

242
00:14:48.120 --> 00:14:53.159
they cannot see. And that's really the Christian life. We

243
00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:59.720
live in a world where everything around us, circumstances can

244
00:14:59.759 --> 00:15:04.600
cause us to question the existence of God, to question anything,

245
00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:09.240
but we are to trust in that which we cannot see,

246
00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:13.799
in which we are not typically experiencing. Yes, So they're

247
00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:17.080
in the same situation that if you want to see parallels,

248
00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:20.080
We've already talked about this. You know the parallel I'm

249
00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:22.159
going to draw here before we're done, But you can

250
00:15:22.200 --> 00:15:26.159
see this. So we have hope, we have encouragement to trust,

251
00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:30.159
and I think this is interesting. What is one of

252
00:15:30.200 --> 00:15:33.840
the things they lost in the Babylonian captivity. I mentioned

253
00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:37.000
it briefly in the first hour. You probably weren't even

254
00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:40.120
paying attention. I talked about the things that they that

255
00:15:40.240 --> 00:15:43.440
happened to them as their temple was destroyed, Jerusalem was destroyed.

256
00:15:43.799 --> 00:15:47.000
They lost their land, and I said, they lost something else,

257
00:15:48.519 --> 00:15:53.120
their national identity. Well, guess what happens here for them?

258
00:15:54.279 --> 00:15:59.080
There's a ref there's a reaffirmation of their identity by saying,

259
00:15:59.080 --> 00:16:08.279
what comfort there you go, Bobby, my people, my people.

260
00:16:08.559 --> 00:16:10.840
He's addressing them as my people. We've already talked about this.

261
00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:14.919
This reminded Israel of their unique relationship with God, restoring

262
00:16:14.919 --> 00:16:19.679
their sense of identity and purpose. Hey, they have almost

263
00:16:19.799 --> 00:16:22.399
lost their identity. They don't have a temple, they don't

264
00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:27.960
they don't have anything. They're slaves, and God is like, no, no, no,

265
00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:31.960
you're my people. You haven't lost your identity. You haven't

266
00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:35.679
lost this relationship, you haven't lost the covenant, you haven't

267
00:16:35.720 --> 00:16:44.399
lost anything except for land, temple, But you haven't lost God.

268
00:16:46.200 --> 00:16:48.360
Now that's going to be a very important lesson for Israel,

269
00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:51.360
because if you think about it, that same lesson is

270
00:16:51.360 --> 00:16:53.159
going to have to be show up in which book

271
00:16:53.240 --> 00:16:59.799
in the New Testament? Hebrews? Right, everyone misinterprets Hebrews. Hebrews

272
00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:02.159
can not be interpreted unless you understand it's written to

273
00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:05.880
Jews right around sixty five sixty six sixty seven a d.

274
00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:08.240
And the entire purpose of the book is to tell

275
00:17:08.279 --> 00:17:12.599
them you're gonna lose what the temple, You're gonna lose

276
00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:17.319
it all forever. Okay, but you still have God. You

277
00:17:17.319 --> 00:17:20.839
still have Christ, Christ distilled, right, That's that's who. And

278
00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:27.240
around up my way it's a repeat of this. You're

279
00:17:27.240 --> 00:17:30.799
still my people. Still that promises, So everybody have that

280
00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:37.559
has that right? So is there any application for today?

281
00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:40.559
Is there any application for today? So let's read the

282
00:17:40.680 --> 00:17:45.319
two verses again. To read the two verses again, Comfort ye,

283
00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:49.519
comfort ye, my people, saith your God, speak comfortably to

284
00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:52.880
Jerusalem and cry unto her that our warfare is accomplished,

285
00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:55.319
that her iniquity is pardoned for she has received of

286
00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:58.680
the Lord hand double of all her sins, for all

287
00:17:58.680 --> 00:18:01.160
her sins. Now, here's what I'm going to do. Before

288
00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:03.720
we do some application and they're going to really try

289
00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:06.480
to apply it. Let's just walk through this now and

290
00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:09.039
see when you leave here, if anyone ever asks you

291
00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:10.920
about Isaiah forty one through two, or if you ever

292
00:18:10.960 --> 00:18:13.519
hear another sermon on Isaiah forty one through two, you

293
00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:18.200
can immediately identify when they don't handle the text correctly. Right,

294
00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:21.720
everybody ready to walk through it. Isaiah forty verse one,

295
00:18:21.960 --> 00:18:25.920
Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people. That is God calling

296
00:18:26.039 --> 00:18:31.599
for someone spiritual leaders profits anyone who gets this message

297
00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:36.000
to take the message to whom my people? Who are

298
00:18:36.039 --> 00:18:40.160
my people? Those in Babylonian exile? They are identified where

299
00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:45.200
chapter thirty nine. Very good? All right? So comfort the

300
00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:48.640
idea is calling someone to bring comfort to his people.

301
00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:52.119
His people are those in Babylonian exile. Right, that's the

302
00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:56.000
call to bring comfort. Everybody got that? Not for us,

303
00:18:56.119 --> 00:18:58.839
that's for them. Second, what do you see in verse two,

304
00:18:58.839 --> 00:19:06.000
the very beginning of verse two speak tenderly or speak comfortably?

305
00:19:06.200 --> 00:19:09.720
What is that? Okay? Those who are bringing the message,

306
00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:12.400
this is how you are to bring it. You are

307
00:19:12.440 --> 00:19:17.519
to bring it with tenderness. You are to show empathy,

308
00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:21.880
you are to show compassion. Everybody see that, Who specifically

309
00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:25.799
are you to bring these tender words to to well

310
00:19:25.880 --> 00:19:30.920
Jerusalem in verse two, which identifies to the capital of Judah,

311
00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:35.359
which is interesting because Jerusalem has been destroyed. So in

312
00:19:35.400 --> 00:19:39.920
a sense, symbolically, you could say, tenderly, speak to those

313
00:19:40.359 --> 00:19:43.160
and what do you want to see? By saying speak

314
00:19:43.160 --> 00:19:48.160
to Jerusalem, the messenger should see not just a person,

315
00:19:48.599 --> 00:19:54.559
but see the suffering that that person is experiencing. That

316
00:19:54.599 --> 00:19:59.079
can be hard to do, right, When we see people,

317
00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:03.440
we just see a person, right, we may see emotions.

318
00:20:03.960 --> 00:20:08.359
Sometimes it's hard for us to see beyond the person

319
00:20:08.920 --> 00:20:12.720
there's something more going on. You never can just seeing

320
00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:15.039
a person. You don't have a clue, right, you don't

321
00:20:15.079 --> 00:20:20.559
really know this. By saying, speak it to Jerusalem, they

322
00:20:20.599 --> 00:20:22.640
can see what do you see when they saw Jerusalem

323
00:20:22.680 --> 00:20:29.319
at that time destroyed, a burnt, destroyed temple. Speak tenderly

324
00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:35.519
to the suffering. Understand the suffering is there. It's so

325
00:20:35.559 --> 00:20:37.519
easy for us to just we can speak to a

326
00:20:37.559 --> 00:20:42.359
person in a very kind of like clinical, academic kind

327
00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:46.400
of way. Right. It's it's when we can speak past

328
00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:50.400
the person to the actual suffering that changes the tone

329
00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:54.279
of our words, does it not. Some people are good

330
00:20:54.319 --> 00:20:56.880
at that. Some people are not good at that. Right.

331
00:20:57.119 --> 00:20:59.240
Some people just see the person and just say, well,

332
00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:02.480
especially if Christian, all things work together for good love God,

333
00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:04.119
Believe God, God, God's go fix your problem, and just

334
00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:07.440
say it in a very academic way. You speak differently

335
00:21:07.480 --> 00:21:11.960
when you're speaking to Jerusalem, to a burnt, destroyed city,

336
00:21:12.200 --> 00:21:16.920
you may be a little bit more you know, you

337
00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:19.599
may be a little bit more quiet and not saying

338
00:21:19.720 --> 00:21:24.039
exactly what to say. Right That's that's more difficult. So

339
00:21:24.119 --> 00:21:26.880
I want you to I want you to really grasp that.

340
00:21:27.480 --> 00:21:32.640
Right now, what, then, tenderly, are you to speak to

341
00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:37.359
these individ to these people that are suffering. You're to

342
00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:39.839
speak three things? Are there to speak? Three things? What

343
00:21:39.880 --> 00:21:43.680
are the three things? Come on their verse two? I'm

344
00:21:43.680 --> 00:21:45.799
gonna I'm gonna make this until we have these two

345
00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:49.079
verses memorized. We will not leave Isaiah forty one through

346
00:21:49.160 --> 00:21:51.920
two until we have these memorized. Okay, we will be

347
00:21:51.960 --> 00:21:56.960
here for fifty years. The warfare is ended, Your hardship

348
00:21:57.039 --> 00:22:01.480
is ended, declared to them, so that as if it's

349
00:22:01.559 --> 00:22:07.599
already ended. Number two, your sins have been parton, which

350
00:22:07.640 --> 00:22:10.400
is very key to this. Right. They're there because of

351
00:22:10.440 --> 00:22:16.799
their sin. Number three you received from the Lord tend double. Now,

352
00:22:16.839 --> 00:22:19.000
remember there's two ways of interpreting that we interpreted in

353
00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:24.599
a positive way. You are receiving far more by God's

354
00:22:24.680 --> 00:22:28.680
grace than God has done more for you because of

355
00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:32.640
his grace, right in a positive way. So that's very simple. Right,

356
00:22:32.680 --> 00:22:36.519
everybody got that message? Now what are we tempted to do?

357
00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:41.720
Try to make it about us? All right? Now, I'm

358
00:22:41.720 --> 00:22:44.400
going to break this down into greater detail. I've got

359
00:22:44.440 --> 00:22:48.279
two I got two different parts here that could break

360
00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:51.240
this down. Let's just take a step back and try

361
00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:54.119
to apply it in a in a very just general way,

362
00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:57.519
and then I may give you some specifics. Let's apply

363
00:22:57.559 --> 00:22:59.880
it in a general way. Are you ready? All right?

364
00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:07.759
How do we relate to the entire Babylonian captivity narrative?

365
00:23:08.039 --> 00:23:12.559
How do we relate to the Babylonian captivity narrative? Well,

366
00:23:12.599 --> 00:23:15.880
we relate to it in this way. They're in Babylonian

367
00:23:15.920 --> 00:23:21.599
captivity where they're suffering pain, death, failure, and sin. Right

368
00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:28.480
where do we live our lives? We live our lives

369
00:23:28.519 --> 00:23:31.319
in a fallen world. We are captive here are we not?

370
00:23:31.640 --> 00:23:34.039
We are in it even though we are not of it.

371
00:23:34.079 --> 00:23:37.759
We're not of it. Positionally, we're very much in it. Practically,

372
00:23:37.960 --> 00:23:43.000
and what do we encounter in this world? Do we

373
00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:48.720
encounter pain, suffering, trial and tribulation? Are Christians exempt from pain, suffering,

374
00:23:48.759 --> 00:23:52.400
trial and tribulation? No, we are not all right. We suffer, right,

375
00:23:52.759 --> 00:23:56.319
and we're kept here we depending on how long you live,

376
00:23:56.400 --> 00:23:59.640
maybe seventy years, maybe seventy five if you're lucky, maybe

377
00:23:59.640 --> 00:24:03.880
a little longer. Right, there's a certain amount of time. Now,

378
00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:12.559
what are we promised after our captivity? Well, okay, now

379
00:24:12.599 --> 00:24:16.039
you can kind of see we're guaranteed after this as

380
00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:23.000
a believer, our hardship will be ended, not in here,

381
00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:29.640
not now there? And then what will happen? No more pain,

382
00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:32.240
no more suffering, no more death, no more sin because

383
00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:36.599
we get a glorified body. But it's not now, when

384
00:24:36.680 --> 00:24:42.720
is it there? That's the hard and justice. That's why

385
00:24:42.759 --> 00:24:44.480
I spent the first hour trying to get you to

386
00:24:44.559 --> 00:24:47.720
understand how frustrating and confusing it could have been for

387
00:24:47.799 --> 00:24:50.000
them hearing this message. I mean, some of them may

388
00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:51.720
have been. I mean, you may want to just say

389
00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:54.920
stop talking to me, stop with your stupid words, get

390
00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:57.000
out of my face. There is no comfort, there is

391
00:24:57.079 --> 00:25:00.000
no hope. I've been here for forty years. My kids

392
00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:02.599
I have died in captivity, Get out of my face,

393
00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:08.759
and you can't blame them for saying that. And the

394
00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:13.240
same thing can be said of our lives. Right, Oh, yeah,

395
00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:16.720
God's great, wonderful. Yeah, tell me all the wonderful things

396
00:25:16.759 --> 00:25:19.200
you see. My mom's dead, I was raised in an

397
00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:25.039
abusive home. My father died. Yeah, things are great. Doesn't

398
00:25:25.039 --> 00:25:28.799
feel that way, does it. But the same words are

399
00:25:29.079 --> 00:25:31.400
in a roundabout way, we can see them being applicable.

400
00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:35.519
My hardship will come to In fact, it has been,

401
00:25:37.119 --> 00:25:41.480
it's done, it's finished, it's accomplished. I just don't yet

402
00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:46.400
see it or experience it. But that doesn't change its certainty.

403
00:25:47.920 --> 00:25:49.680
But there will come a time there'll be no more pain,

404
00:25:49.720 --> 00:25:51.799
no more suffering it, no more death. That still leaves

405
00:25:51.839 --> 00:25:57.000
me lots of philosophical questions of why it takes this long? Right, okay, why?

406
00:25:57.319 --> 00:26:01.599
But that's the real that's the difficulty of faith. Faith

407
00:26:01.839 --> 00:26:07.720
is not the pretending that reality doesn't exist. Faith is

408
00:26:07.799 --> 00:26:14.119
believing something and acknowledging the reality. Christianity loves to try

409
00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:17.039
to almost create a Hallmark movie of reality. It's no

410
00:26:17.640 --> 00:26:21.839
Christianity is like the city is burnt, the temple is gone,

411
00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:27.000
everything's on fire. People are burning, and it's horrible. But

412
00:26:27.160 --> 00:26:32.279
yet I believe see that, you see how it fits

413
00:26:32.319 --> 00:26:36.759
within reality. It's not the rewriting of reality. It's acknowledging

414
00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:40.519
the reality. Christians love to pretend to a reality that

415
00:26:40.599 --> 00:26:43.519
doesn't exist. Some Christians are good at doing that. They

416
00:26:43.599 --> 00:26:46.160
live their life just oh great, everything's wonderful, great, great, great,

417
00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:48.759
great great great. But they're always those who tend to

418
00:26:48.759 --> 00:26:52.240
be more realistic, like, man, I can't handle this. Christianity

419
00:26:52.279 --> 00:26:54.720
is a lie. Well, I feel bad for those people,

420
00:26:54.920 --> 00:26:57.279
because it's not that Christianity is a lie. It's just

421
00:26:57.359 --> 00:27:02.039
you've been given the used car cells version, the infomercial

422
00:27:02.359 --> 00:27:08.160
of Christianity. Stop listening to the people selling you the infocommercial. Right, Christianity,

423
00:27:08.680 --> 00:27:11.960
the reality of Christianity does not can fit in within

424
00:27:12.039 --> 00:27:14.200
our reality, just like it had to fit in with them.

425
00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:19.160
Can you imagine seventy years? Can you even comprehend that

426
00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:25.319
some people never saw the end of it? That's what

427
00:27:25.359 --> 00:27:30.400
I love about Hebrews. Hebrews talked about how that many

428
00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:33.519
of those people, by faith, they never saw the fulfillment

429
00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:37.920
of those promises. That's the way life work. We don't

430
00:27:37.960 --> 00:27:41.440
Sometimes they just as they many of them never saw

431
00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:44.880
them being delivered. You know how many people received who

432
00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:48.039
possibly heard these words, your warfare is ended, and they

433
00:27:48.119 --> 00:27:51.880
never actually saw the end of their warfare. Now you

434
00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:55.920
could say, well, they ultimately did right when they died,

435
00:27:56.079 --> 00:28:00.599
but at the time, so we have to see ourselves

436
00:28:00.680 --> 00:28:04.319
in that same light. Right, So our warfare will end,

437
00:28:04.519 --> 00:28:06.839
but it's spoken of as it has even though it hasn't.

438
00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:12.240
What's the second thing that was said to them? Sins

439
00:28:12.279 --> 00:28:15.039
are pardoned? Well, their sins are being paid for and pardoned.

440
00:28:15.319 --> 00:28:18.160
And guess what, that's something we can cling to, can

441
00:28:18.200 --> 00:28:22.200
we not? We can say our sins have been pardoned

442
00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:26.079
by Christ. Yes, that's good news. Right now, what's the

443
00:28:26.119 --> 00:28:32.279
reality again? I'm going to once again demonstrate this. My

444
00:28:32.400 --> 00:28:36.160
sins have been pardoned and I've been declared to be

445
00:28:36.440 --> 00:28:42.279
righteous even though I am still sitting. Just make sure

446
00:28:42.279 --> 00:28:46.559
we understand, as Christians what is the normal? I know

447
00:28:46.640 --> 00:28:48.559
this is going to go against every church in America,

448
00:28:48.599 --> 00:28:51.559
but I'm sorry. They can lie to people. I'm not

449
00:28:51.599 --> 00:28:55.440
going to lie to you. What is the normal Christian life?

450
00:28:57.400 --> 00:29:03.359
A perpetual state of sin? I know Christians like no,

451
00:29:03.599 --> 00:29:08.400
we've been set free from the power of sin positionally,

452
00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:11.039
not practically. Okay, so let me make it just. I'll

453
00:29:11.079 --> 00:29:12.920
help you show you that you're in right now. You're

454
00:29:12.920 --> 00:29:15.039
in a perpetual state of sin. You have been sinning

455
00:29:15.960 --> 00:29:17.920
twenty four to seven. And whether you want to admit

456
00:29:17.960 --> 00:29:19.759
it or not, okay, I'll give you. I'll just start

457
00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:22.720
with one command. Be holy as God, as holy? Is

458
00:29:22.759 --> 00:29:26.119
anyone here as holy as God? If you think you are,

459
00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:28.119
then we need to get you out of Christianity. We

460
00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:30.480
need to get you into some mental health treatment. Okay,

461
00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:34.279
because you're delusional. Okay, you're not as holy as God.

462
00:29:34.920 --> 00:29:39.640
You're commanded to be. That's called law. We can't I mean,

463
00:29:39.680 --> 00:29:42.640
I know this goes against everyone's concept. We can't keep

464
00:29:42.680 --> 00:29:47.640
God's law even as a Christian. The law is to

465
00:29:47.720 --> 00:29:52.519
show us our inability to keep it. So, because if

466
00:29:52.519 --> 00:29:54.359
you're not as holy as God, as holy, and that

467
00:29:54.480 --> 00:29:56.680
is a law, that means you're in a perpetual state

468
00:29:56.720 --> 00:30:00.519
of what. Oh we're not supposed to admit that. Oh

469
00:30:00.559 --> 00:30:02.759
wait wait, Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, once

470
00:30:02.799 --> 00:30:05.759
again the most misinterpreted sermon in the history of humankind,

471
00:30:06.200 --> 00:30:10.599
he says, what in that sermon? Be perfect as your

472
00:30:10.599 --> 00:30:19.240
heavily Father is perfect. Is anybody here perfect? Not practically?

473
00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:22.200
All right? Oh wait, love God with all your heart, mind, body,

474
00:30:22.240 --> 00:30:24.720
and soul. Love your neighbor as yourself. Do all things

475
00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:27.039
without grumbling and complaining. I can go on and on

476
00:30:27.119 --> 00:30:28.720
and on. If you look at a woman with lust,

477
00:30:28.720 --> 00:30:31.480
you've already committed adultery. Right, you could kill someone without

478
00:30:31.480 --> 00:30:33.640
actually killing. So I can go on and on and

479
00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:35.759
on and on. And you know what that law demonstrates

480
00:30:35.799 --> 00:30:38.920
to me. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner.

481
00:30:38.960 --> 00:30:40.799
I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. But what is the

482
00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:44.759
entire concept of the Protestant Reformation? By faith? What occurs

483
00:30:45.319 --> 00:30:52.440
my sins are pardoned? And then of righteousness is what imputed? Everyone?

484
00:30:52.480 --> 00:30:56.039
Please use that word imputed, not infused. All right, we

485
00:30:56.119 --> 00:30:59.880
do not. We reject infused righteousness. Right, that's Catholicism. That

486
00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:03.200
the entire Protestant Reformation is on this point. Right, And

487
00:31:03.279 --> 00:31:06.920
so guess what now? Once again, what's the reality then,

488
00:31:06.960 --> 00:31:13.359
of the Christian life? What's the reality of the Christian life? Sin?

489
00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:17.880
That's the reality. Okay, Just we can pretend all day.

490
00:31:17.880 --> 00:31:19.720
You can say, well, I don't commit that sin, you're

491
00:31:19.720 --> 00:31:23.200
in a state of sin. Am I excusing any sin,

492
00:31:24.359 --> 00:31:29.119
not excusing it or acknowledging a reality. But by faith,

493
00:31:30.160 --> 00:31:32.559
my sins have been pardoned, and I am declared to

494
00:31:32.599 --> 00:31:36.799
be perfect and righteous, even though I am not. That's

495
00:31:37.880 --> 00:31:41.599
the whole Protestant referrement. Catholicism does not like that. It

496
00:31:41.720 --> 00:31:46.079
rejects that. I will argue many Protestants are more Catholic

497
00:31:46.200 --> 00:31:50.279
than Catholics. When I went went to a Catholic university,

498
00:31:50.279 --> 00:31:52.799
that was the big discussion we had is they talked

499
00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:56.440
about all the different Protestant theological systems, about Sotariology, and

500
00:31:56.440 --> 00:31:59.960
they're like, that's more Catholic than we are. And I'm like, well,

501
00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:03.400
I'm not a Catholic. Well if you believe that you are, no,

502
00:32:03.440 --> 00:32:06.039
I'm not, Yes you are. And then I'm like, well

503
00:32:06.200 --> 00:32:08.240
I gotta understand this a little bit better. So then

504
00:32:08.279 --> 00:32:11.839
you go, oh, imputed righteousness. This is we want to

505
00:32:11.960 --> 00:32:16.359
judge Christian someone's salvation based off what they do. You say, Well,

506
00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:19.519
the Bible gives a test to prove someone's salvation. Oh,

507
00:32:19.559 --> 00:32:22.200
it does give a test, And how is the test

508
00:32:22.279 --> 00:32:29.319
passed by Christ? Not by us? Because if you're going

509
00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:31.599
to prove my salvation by what I do. Then you're

510
00:32:31.599 --> 00:32:34.200
not judging me based off in imputed righteousness. You're judging

511
00:32:34.240 --> 00:32:39.079
me based off in practical righteousness, which destroys the entire Gospel. Okay,

512
00:32:39.559 --> 00:32:44.839
because the tests are classified as what theologically waw? What

513
00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:51.759
is law supposed to show me? I can't do this? Now?

514
00:32:51.799 --> 00:32:53.759
What is it supposed to do? Take me by the

515
00:32:53.799 --> 00:32:57.480
hand and take me to the one who did? And

516
00:32:57.519 --> 00:32:59.920
then Christ says, I've done that for you in him

517
00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:03.599
I'm taking care of So they are in captivity. And

518
00:33:03.640 --> 00:33:08.160
what is the story of Israel from Genesis twelve all

519
00:33:08.200 --> 00:33:13.799
the way into the future? Sin? Wait, what is the

520
00:33:13.839 --> 00:33:19.119
story of the church? Sin? Okay, but our sins are

521
00:33:20.240 --> 00:33:25.160
what does the text say? Pardoned? How Well, in their

522
00:33:25.240 --> 00:33:27.880
case it's pardoned in a very historical sense because they've

523
00:33:27.880 --> 00:33:30.839
suffered for it. But in our sense, because Christ suffered

524
00:33:31.720 --> 00:33:35.039
for us, He suffered for us, my sins have been

525
00:33:35.079 --> 00:33:39.839
part even though I'm still a sinner. I'm still a sinner.

526
00:33:39.880 --> 00:33:43.279
I know nobody wants to admit that because with Christianity

527
00:33:43.559 --> 00:33:47.400
we constantly sell something that denies reality. We don't need

528
00:33:47.440 --> 00:33:51.119
to deny that reality. You're a sinner, I'm a sinner.

529
00:33:51.160 --> 00:33:55.160
We're all sinners. Nobody should excuse it, but we should

530
00:33:55.200 --> 00:34:02.160
acknowledge it. Okay. And so what's my hope Christ is

531
00:34:02.319 --> 00:34:04.079
what if you're truly a Christian, you'll do this and

532
00:34:04.119 --> 00:34:07.839
this and this. Talk to Jesus. He did it for me.

533
00:34:09.559 --> 00:34:11.679
My salvation is not based on what I do. It's

534
00:34:11.719 --> 00:34:14.039
based on what you want assurance of salvation. What do

535
00:34:14.079 --> 00:34:19.559
you look to, not to yourself but to Christ. Everything

536
00:34:19.599 --> 00:34:21.719
you give me, you're giving me law. Who fulfilled the

537
00:34:21.800 --> 00:34:26.039
law for me. Christ? We gotta get that right. So,

538
00:34:26.119 --> 00:34:29.079
in a sense we can apply this because we are

539
00:34:29.159 --> 00:34:32.880
in our own Babylonian captivity. We are in the world.

540
00:34:32.960 --> 00:34:36.159
There is pain and suffering, but our warfare has ended.

541
00:34:36.400 --> 00:34:39.880
It is just guaranteed to happen then not now, Just

542
00:34:39.920 --> 00:34:43.119
like they experience had to wait. Their sins have been pardoned.

543
00:34:43.119 --> 00:34:44.760
My sins have been pardoned. But what is still the

544
00:34:44.760 --> 00:34:53.480
reality sin? And what's the third thing? They received? Double?

545
00:34:54.239 --> 00:34:57.239
Is not God's grace greater than all of our sin?

546
00:34:57.599 --> 00:35:01.599
Have we not received double triple million times more than

547
00:35:01.840 --> 00:35:06.719
our sin? Yes, my sin I should receive punishment, judgment,

548
00:35:06.840 --> 00:35:11.760
and hell, but I have received forgiveness, adoption, a guaranteed eternity.

549
00:35:11.800 --> 00:35:13.639
My name's written in the Lamb's book. Think of all

550
00:35:13.679 --> 00:35:16.880
the things we've received, we received far more than our sin,

551
00:35:17.639 --> 00:35:20.519
because God's greater, His grace is greater than our sin.

552
00:35:20.760 --> 00:35:26.360
You see the correlation? All right? Does that make sense? Nah?

553
00:35:26.599 --> 00:35:30.239
That goes I gets a lot of I mean not,

554
00:35:30.280 --> 00:35:32.480
it goes against. It just goes in a different direction

555
00:35:32.559 --> 00:35:34.760
than all the things that I had here. But that's okay.

556
00:35:35.079 --> 00:35:38.119
I did write this. Isaiah forty verses one or two

557
00:35:38.159 --> 00:35:41.039
is a profound declaration of God's comfort and restoration for

558
00:35:41.079 --> 00:35:44.960
his people, rooted in his covenantal faithfulness. The grammar and

559
00:35:45.079 --> 00:35:49.199
language highlight the intensity and certainty of God's promise, offering

560
00:35:49.239 --> 00:35:52.199
hope not only for Israel's return from exile, but also

561
00:35:52.320 --> 00:35:56.519
pointing to the ultimate redemption that is in Christ for

562
00:35:56.599 --> 00:36:00.239
the original recipients. It's a message of immediate hope, well

563
00:36:00.280 --> 00:36:03.480
the believer today. It reveals the character of God that

564
00:36:03.599 --> 00:36:06.519
is both just and merciful. Now I go through, I

565
00:36:06.679 --> 00:36:09.159
have like I could break this down. I'll just show

566
00:36:09.199 --> 00:36:13.199
you how I did this. Just quickly take the phrase

567
00:36:13.239 --> 00:36:17.519
her warfare is ended. We know what that means for Israel? Right?

568
00:36:18.159 --> 00:36:20.079
That the end of their suffering and the punishment of

569
00:36:20.119 --> 00:36:23.400
babylon exile is going to come to an end for us.

570
00:36:23.880 --> 00:36:27.119
The warfare is that we were at enmity with God.

571
00:36:27.199 --> 00:36:32.199
Were we not? Yes? Okay? But we have been therefore

572
00:36:32.400 --> 00:36:34.639
Romans five to one. Therefore, since we have been justified

573
00:36:34.639 --> 00:36:36.719
by Christ, we have peace with God through our Lord

574
00:36:36.800 --> 00:36:39.880
Jesus Christ. Through the atoning work of Christ, the conflict

575
00:36:39.880 --> 00:36:42.360
caused by sin is resolved. Believers are brought into a

576
00:36:42.400 --> 00:36:45.079
state of peace with God. Even though we're brought into

577
00:36:45.159 --> 00:36:50.519
a state of peace with God positionally, practically we still sin,

578
00:36:51.039 --> 00:36:53.760
we still struggle, and they're still all the pain and

579
00:36:53.800 --> 00:36:58.400
suffering in life. Everybody got that, right? I think can

580
00:36:58.440 --> 00:37:03.079
we acknowledge that? All right? The believer, we can experience

581
00:37:03.119 --> 00:37:06.840
a peace with God positionally, but we still face struggles

582
00:37:06.840 --> 00:37:08.960
and trials in the Christian life. I think we can

583
00:37:09.000 --> 00:37:13.079
agree with that. So all right. So her iniquity is

584
00:37:13.199 --> 00:37:15.039
I have plenty of other notes here, I'm just skipping

585
00:37:15.039 --> 00:37:18.199
through some of these. Her iniquity has pardoned. We talk

586
00:37:18.280 --> 00:37:21.719
what that meant for Israel and their context correct for us.

587
00:37:21.800 --> 00:37:25.119
We've talked about how that applies to say Ephesian's one seven.

588
00:37:25.159 --> 00:37:27.960
In him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness

589
00:37:28.280 --> 00:37:32.159
of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace. Right,

590
00:37:32.639 --> 00:37:35.960
we everybody remember that we if we confess our sins,

591
00:37:35.960 --> 00:37:37.920
it's faithful justin forgive us our sins and to cleanses

592
00:37:37.960 --> 00:37:41.639
from all unrighteousness. Yeah, I could break it all down.

593
00:37:42.599 --> 00:37:45.400
She received double We talked about what that means for

594
00:37:45.519 --> 00:37:49.039
Israel and for us while we've received an abundance of

595
00:37:49.039 --> 00:37:55.800
God's grace. Yes, all right, So I'll just stop right there.

596
00:37:55.920 --> 00:37:58.480
I made an entire chart here. I could break it

597
00:37:58.559 --> 00:38:00.440
down more, but I'm not going to go I'm not

598
00:38:00.480 --> 00:38:03.880
going to go through all of it. I think we Yeah,

599
00:38:04.119 --> 00:38:06.360
I've got like pages and pages of notes, but I

600
00:38:06.360 --> 00:38:09.880
think I summarized it relatively well. So do you understand

601
00:38:09.920 --> 00:38:13.960
the original message to Israel or to Judah? Everybody got

602
00:38:13.960 --> 00:38:16.639
it all right. It starts with a call for someone

603
00:38:16.639 --> 00:38:21.800
to take comfort to them. They're identified as His people

604
00:38:21.920 --> 00:38:27.039
demonstrating the Covenant. All right. He says to speak tenderly

605
00:38:27.079 --> 00:38:29.920
to them. So the whoever's to deliver the message is

606
00:38:29.960 --> 00:38:32.360
to speak in a comforting way, see and speak to

607
00:38:32.440 --> 00:38:35.119
Jerusalem so they see beyond the people and see the suffering,

608
00:38:35.519 --> 00:38:37.800
and then three things are said to be given to them.

609
00:38:37.800 --> 00:38:40.199
What are those three things? What's the three things they

610
00:38:40.199 --> 00:38:45.000
need to be told? Warfare is ended, sins have been

611
00:38:45.039 --> 00:38:49.039
pardon you've received double right? Got that? And all of

612
00:38:49.039 --> 00:38:53.119
that makes sense within its historical setting? For us? What's

613
00:38:53.159 --> 00:38:57.760
the parallel? We are in our own Babylonian exile and

614
00:38:57.840 --> 00:39:01.000
we suffer and there's pain and death. What is the

615
00:39:01.000 --> 00:39:04.719
message we can hear? The warfare has ended, our warfare

616
00:39:04.760 --> 00:39:08.840
with God has ended, and our suffering has ended. Ultimately,

617
00:39:09.119 --> 00:39:11.519
in the meantime, we still suffer, just like they still suffer.

618
00:39:12.360 --> 00:39:14.960
But we can be sure of that our sins have

619
00:39:15.039 --> 00:39:18.960
been pardoned, even though we still sin and we're still

620
00:39:18.960 --> 00:39:20.960
in sin. Our sins have been pardoned, and we have

621
00:39:21.039 --> 00:39:23.239
been declared not just pardoners, we have been declared to

622
00:39:23.239 --> 00:39:27.760
be righteous positionally speaking right, and then we have received

623
00:39:27.840 --> 00:39:33.719
double Does that all make sense? All? Right? Then? That

624
00:39:33.880 --> 00:39:37.719
is Isaiah forty one through two. We could go to

625
00:39:38.159 --> 00:39:40.639
start verse three through five. But once we start that,

626
00:39:40.760 --> 00:39:45.159
ladies and gentlemen, everything becomes complicated, all right, So we

627
00:39:45.199 --> 00:39:48.679
won't even we won't even attempt to start it. But

628
00:39:48.840 --> 00:39:51.079
next week our goal is to go from verse three

629
00:39:51.159 --> 00:39:54.599
to five if we can. All right, just to give

630
00:39:54.639 --> 00:39:57.639
you a preview, we have in verse three, we have

631
00:39:57.880 --> 00:40:03.519
two words to start verse three. All right, this is

632
00:40:03.519 --> 00:40:06.119
where it's gonna get complicated. In a VI says a voice,

633
00:40:06.360 --> 00:40:12.480
ESV says a voice, the King, James says the voice. Right,

634
00:40:13.000 --> 00:40:16.920
A voice is much more generic. The voice seems to

635
00:40:17.000 --> 00:40:20.800
speak specifically. So that what we're gonna have to figure out.

636
00:40:21.400 --> 00:40:26.760
Do we identify the voice or do we just see

637
00:40:26.800 --> 00:40:28.760
it in a generic way and just kind of a

638
00:40:28.800 --> 00:40:33.000
symbolic way. Right. If we identify it, do we immediately

639
00:40:33.039 --> 00:40:36.280
render the New Testament and identify it as John the Baptist. Well,

640
00:40:36.320 --> 00:40:38.960
if we do that, that's gonna destroy the historical context,

641
00:40:38.960 --> 00:40:42.559
so that we can't do that. If we try to

642
00:40:42.599 --> 00:40:46.000
identify it with someone in the historical setting, which voice

643
00:40:46.000 --> 00:40:50.400
could it be? Okay, oh, it could be Isaiah. Some

644
00:40:50.519 --> 00:40:53.400
may argue Cyrus. So one of the things we will

645
00:40:53.440 --> 00:40:58.519
do is we're gonna look at the decree of Cyrus, right,

646
00:40:58.840 --> 00:41:01.320
and then we're gonna compare it to Isaiah forty three

647
00:41:01.360 --> 00:41:05.719
through five. We'll do a comparent contrast. We'll make a chart.

648
00:41:06.800 --> 00:41:10.360
I'm not saying it's perfect. But we'll see now, just

649
00:41:10.400 --> 00:41:14.440
so that you know, Ai does not like it being Cirrus.

650
00:41:15.280 --> 00:41:20.000
Ai argued with me strongly, it's not Cyrus. But Ai

651
00:41:20.199 --> 00:41:23.360
also acknowledged when I said, do a compare and contrast

652
00:41:23.400 --> 00:41:27.039
between the decree of Cyrus and Isaiah forty three through five,

653
00:41:27.199 --> 00:41:31.639
it did admit they're pretty similar. Okay, so I'm not

654
00:41:31.639 --> 00:41:34.039
saying it works, but we will see. We may not

655
00:41:34.119 --> 00:41:36.760
even have to identify the voice, but we've got to identify.

656
00:41:36.800 --> 00:41:38.960
We've got to at least understand what's being said here,

657
00:41:39.159 --> 00:41:42.719
because there's some very specific things said here. Right, Prepare

658
00:41:42.760 --> 00:41:45.320
the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert

659
00:41:45.320 --> 00:41:48.360
a highway for our God. Now we see everyone wants

660
00:41:48.360 --> 00:41:50.559
to run to that and then run to Christmas time

661
00:41:50.599 --> 00:41:53.760
and John the Baptist. But the focus here is prepare

662
00:41:53.800 --> 00:41:55.719
the way for God to make straight in a desert,

663
00:41:55.719 --> 00:41:57.280
a highway for our God to come and do what

664
00:41:58.480 --> 00:42:02.599
for God to come in deliver them from captivity. That's

665
00:42:02.639 --> 00:42:07.800
the context here. New Testament writers use it, but just

666
00:42:07.840 --> 00:42:12.400
remember New Testament writers use Old Testament passages in a

667
00:42:12.440 --> 00:42:17.920
way that defies all hermeneutical rules. Sometimes they quote it exactly.

668
00:42:18.719 --> 00:42:22.000
Sometimes they quote part of it. Sometimes they paraphrase it.

669
00:42:23.400 --> 00:42:25.800
Sometimes they rip things so far into context you're like,

670
00:42:25.960 --> 00:42:28.199
I don't even know what you're doing here. Okay, this

671
00:42:28.360 --> 00:42:33.360
is insane. But that we we don't base our hermoneutics

672
00:42:33.360 --> 00:42:36.519
on how they use Old Testament scripture because they're doing

673
00:42:36.559 --> 00:42:39.840
it under the inspiration of God, meaning that they can

674
00:42:39.960 --> 00:42:43.559
use it that way and be doing it correctly. We

675
00:42:43.679 --> 00:42:46.239
got to follow some kind of hermeneutical rules or the

676
00:42:46.239 --> 00:42:49.159
Bible becomes a free for all and crazy. So that's

677
00:42:49.199 --> 00:42:51.440
some of the things we'll be looking through in this section.

678
00:42:51.760 --> 00:42:54.079
We'll try to we'll look at it in its historical

679
00:42:54.239 --> 00:42:57.719
textual context, and then we'll see, well why did why

680
00:42:57.719 --> 00:43:00.440
did the New Testament writers refer to John the Baptist? Well,

681
00:43:00.440 --> 00:43:03.119
because in a similar way, he's doing the same thing. Right,

682
00:43:03.880 --> 00:43:05.960
if you think about it, who does John the Baptist

683
00:43:06.039 --> 00:43:14.079
go to Israel? Israel's where at the time under the

684
00:43:14.159 --> 00:43:17.760
hill of they're in the exact same situation, are they not?

685
00:43:18.519 --> 00:43:22.880
Okay now, and in this particular case, they're never getting

686
00:43:22.880 --> 00:43:26.519
out of that captivity because they're going to be destroyed

687
00:43:26.559 --> 00:43:29.679
in seventy a d. So they're going to need a

688
00:43:29.719 --> 00:43:33.679
different kind of message, right, and that's the message that

689
00:43:33.719 --> 00:43:37.360
their Messiah has come. Right. So you can see you

690
00:43:37.360 --> 00:43:39.679
can see the parallels, can you not? So you can

691
00:43:39.719 --> 00:43:42.119
see why the New Testament writers would use it. But

692
00:43:42.159 --> 00:43:47.119
they're using it obviously acknowledging its original context is just

693
00:43:47.159 --> 00:43:51.239
the original context fits very well with what Israel's going through,

694
00:43:52.119 --> 00:43:55.199
does it not? I mean, I mean they're suffering and

695
00:43:55.239 --> 00:44:00.400
then they're going what's going to happen to them? So

696
00:44:00.440 --> 00:44:02.559
they're going to have to look for something different this time.

697
00:44:02.559 --> 00:44:06.760
They're not about getting out of Roman captivity this time, well,

698
00:44:06.760 --> 00:44:11.079
they're going to need the message of Hebrews. Something better

699
00:44:11.079 --> 00:44:15.159
has come. But at the same time, their king has come,

700
00:44:15.599 --> 00:44:18.000
and it does not negate the promise of the kingdom

701
00:44:18.000 --> 00:44:19.840
that God made in the coming. We can get into

702
00:44:19.920 --> 00:44:22.599
eschatology and all of that, right, So I think it

703
00:44:22.639 --> 00:44:25.039
will make sense. But we got off to a good start.

704
00:44:25.360 --> 00:44:32.719
Any questions, all right, I did such a good job

705
00:44:32.719 --> 00:44:34.519
that you now understand it, right. So if you hear

706
00:44:34.559 --> 00:44:37.400
someone preach on Isaiah four, I was I was listening

707
00:44:37.440 --> 00:44:40.559
to a message on the way here. On Isaiah forty

708
00:44:40.599 --> 00:44:45.400
one through two. We spent two hours, They spent twenty

709
00:44:45.440 --> 00:44:51.039
minutes twenty minutes, and of course it became about whom.

710
00:44:52.199 --> 00:44:56.119
It became about us. Now, we did make it about

711
00:44:56.199 --> 00:44:59.039
us ultimately, but I think we did so correctly. I

712
00:44:59.039 --> 00:45:02.159
think we did so correct I think the parallel was good.

713
00:45:02.440 --> 00:45:04.559
Everyone else wants to just make it about like what

714
00:45:04.639 --> 00:45:07.199
you get now, And it's not about what I get now.

715
00:45:07.559 --> 00:45:09.960
It's about what God has done for me now. But

716
00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:13.400
the practical working it out is in glory, and that's

717
00:45:13.440 --> 00:45:16.280
where Christians have a hard time acknowledging that. All right,

718
00:45:16.360 --> 00:45:18.679
let's pray, Lord God, we come before you. Lord, we

719
00:45:18.760 --> 00:45:22.000
thank you so very much for your word. We ask

720
00:45:22.079 --> 00:45:26.239
your forgiveness for the way it's been misapplied and taught

721
00:45:26.239 --> 00:45:29.800
it incorrectly, and all the ways that even as a

722
00:45:29.920 --> 00:45:33.760
church we have mishandled it and taught it incorrectly. Forgive

723
00:45:33.840 --> 00:45:37.000
us for that. But let us just be grateful not

724
00:45:37.199 --> 00:45:41.280
only for the wonderful, powerful work you demonstrated for Judah,

725
00:45:41.559 --> 00:45:46.159
but the powerful, wonderful work you've demonstrated for us in Christ, Jesus,

726
00:45:46.599 --> 00:45:50.679
let us hold on to the reality of our faith,

727
00:45:51.119 --> 00:45:55.000
even though the reality of life is completely different to

728
00:45:55.079 --> 00:45:57.519
what we believe. Let us hold on to our faith

729
00:45:57.559 --> 00:46:01.000
in spite of that, and be grateful for the promises

730
00:46:01.039 --> 00:46:02.639
that you've given to us. And we asked this in

731
00:46:02.679 --> 00:46:05.239
Jesus name, and gods people said Amen.