Feb. 23, 2025

Isaiah 40:25-31

Isaiah 40:25-31

We conclude our study of Isaiah 40

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We conclude our study of Isaiah 40

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Isaiah chapter forty. This is the dramatic conclusion, hopefully, of

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the chapter. We started our work on Isaiah forty through

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fifty five October of twenty twenty four. It's now February

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the twenty third, twenty twenty five, and we are about

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to finally finish one chapter in Isaiah forty through fifty five.

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Our goal this morning is to go from twenty five

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to thirty one. That is the goal. Now, since we

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have spent so much time in Isaiah forty, I don't

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want to spend a lot of time going back over everything.

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I just have to drive home this point over and

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over and over. The entire reason we're even studying this

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chapter is because, after well over one hundred sermons listened

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to on Isaiah forty through fifty five, every single one

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makes it all about us, us, us, and not about

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the people. It's actually about Isaiah forty through fifty five

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are words of comfort to whom I want everyone to

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tell me, Judah, who is where? Babylonian captivity. These are

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words of comfortgiven to them. They're not for you to

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come and rip out a context and make it about you,

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all right. It's about them. It's about they It's not

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about you, me or I. Can everybody remember that Isaiah

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forty through fifty five is about whom you can just

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say it this way, them and they. It's not about

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me us we are I. If everybody will remember that,

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will be in very good shape. And the reason we

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have to stress that is because we're looking at verses

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twenty five through thirty one, which just happens to have

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some of the most famous words that And everyone knows

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these words because we read verse thirty one, we sing it.

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Everyone knows it, which reads But they that weigh up

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on the Lord shall renew their strength, mount up with

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wings as eagles, shall run and not be weary. They

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shall walk and not faint. And we make that some

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generic promise to us that if we wait, we will

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receive what some kind of power, some kind of strength,

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some kind of provision that they there is referring to

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whom those in Babylonian captivity. God is promising to do

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what for those in Babylonian captivity to strengthen them. Right,

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He's going to preserve them as a nation until they

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come out of Babylonian captivity, go back to Judah and

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do what. Rebuild the city and rebuild the temple. It

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is specific promises if you want to expand it. It's

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a promise to Israel at length large, if you want

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to expand it, that God will ultimately do what bring

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the kingdom promised in the Davidic Covenant to them. They

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will have that kingdom, right, that's promised to them over

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and over and over all. Right, So that that, I mean,

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that's there, We're done. I mean we can go home.

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But that's that's really all you need to know. Well,

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we're gonna we're gonna read verses twenty five through thirty one. First,

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we'll read it. We'll just read it into the King

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James first, and then we'll just break it down all

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right now. To ensure that I can make it from

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twenty five to thirty one, I am trying to rely completely.

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Typically when I rely on AI, it's a lot of

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back and forth, and I go here, I ask further questions,

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and when I finally have my finished product, it's a

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lot of me and it's a lot of AI. I'm

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gonna try to use AI completely here so that I

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can stay on task. But you know what happens when

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I read one thing, I tend to leave it because

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it's hard for me not to. But we're gonna try. So.

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Everybody ready to read Isaiah forty twenty five through thirty one.

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This is the dramatic conclusion. Here we go to whom?

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Then will ye who is the ye Judah and Babylonian captivity?

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All right? To whom? Then will ye liken me? Shall

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I be equal? Saith the Holy One? Lift up your eyes.

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That's Judah right on high. And behold who hath created

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these things that bringeth out their host by number? He

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calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his might,

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for that he is strong in power. Not one faileth.

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Why sayest thou, oh Jacob, and speakest o Israel. My

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way is hid from the Lord. My judgment has passed

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over from my God. Now let's stop right here. This

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is verse twenty seven. Who is mentioned again by name,

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Jacob Israel? Right, it's the same thing, correct, all right?

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So let's do this again. I want everyone to do it.

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Go back to Isaiah forty start in verse one, go

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all the way down to verse twenty seven, and count

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how many very specific references that we find that tells

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us who this chapter is about. And who he is

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speaking to. This is like a reading comprehension test. Remember

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in school, where they ask you a question, you have

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to go back to the paragraph you just read. I

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don't know why anyway, if someone will sit there and

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read the entire paragraph. I don't understand how people do

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reading comprehension tests. You don't read the paragraph, you read

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the question, and you do what you skip, okay, which

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then actually doesn't prove that you can actually read right.

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Just that United skate. It's not a reading comprehension test. Okay,

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I can to do a reading comprehension test. They need

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to becomepletely different. But okay, in this particular case, this

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is reading comprehension one oh one. I need you to

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go stem this chapter and fine for me? All the

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references count? How many that mentioned? Specifically? Who is being

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spoken to?

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Right?

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Go? Okay, where's the first one? Let's go through where's

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the first one? Where? Well? Does verse one identify the people?

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Says my people? So it can at least ask us

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to lead us to ask what question? Who are they? Now?

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If you are reformed, my people becomes whom to church?

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If you're not reformed, that becomes well so we have

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to need a little bit more than my people. That

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will never get us anywhere. But my people are going

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to be identified. Now you could identify my people by

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doing what how could you identify my people here? Since

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there's so much debate about it in Christianity, go back

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to verse chapter thirty nine, verses five through what is

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it eight? What is thirty nine five through eight? Who

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does that identify Judah going into Babela in captivity? So

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my people would be governed by the people mentioned in

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thirty nine five through eight? Right? Is it five through eight?

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I'm going from memory? Okay, Okay, now, okay, So where's

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the next reference? Verse two? Okay, speak comfortably too? All right,

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that's very specific. Jerusalem is the capital of Judah, right,

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the Southern kingdom in this particular context. Right, is there

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any any other reference? And where's the next one? Skim?

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We've been talking about this chapter literally since October? Okay.

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Verse nine mentioned Zion and Jerusalem, and okay, that says

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literally the speak to the cities of Judah, does it not? Okay?

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All right? Okay, that that's pretty clear. Okay, there's three

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at least three references, maybe four? Okay, next and we

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have lots of pronouns about yee yee you, right, I

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mean over and over and over that we could be

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identifying which the governing principle will be all the times

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Judah has been mentioned. But okay, anything else, well, obviously

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the one I just read to you, okay, twenty seven

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says oh, Jacob and Israel. All right, So that's how

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many total? About five references? So in thirty one verses,

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under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the writer Isaiah

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identifies five times who is being spoken to and preachers

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stand behind pulpits and make it all about us. Remember,

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I get so mad everybody wants to yell and scream

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about pronoun issues and our culture. I'm ready for the

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church to start knowing how to use pronouns. Okay, it's

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not me, it's not I, it's not we, it's not us,

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it's they and them. If we're gonna talk about pronouns,

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let's get the pronouns right in the Bible. For crying

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out loud, it's not about us, can we get can

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can everyone agree with at least that? All? Right? What

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verse did we stop at verse twenty seven, Verse twenty eight,

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hast thou not known again that thou was referring to

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whom to Israel, I mean, can I mean we could

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so belabor the point that you would be telling me

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to move on? You probably already are hast thou not

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heard that the Everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of

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the ends of the earth, faintest not neither is weary.

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There is no searching of his understanding. Give power to

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the faint, and to them that have no strength, to

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increase its strength. Even the youths show in the fate

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and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fail.

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But they that wait upon the Lord, they shall renew

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their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles.

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They shall run and not be weary, and they shall

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not walk and not faint. That's the text, all right.

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I almost immediately just launched into my own sermon. But

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I'm gonna stop. All right, So AI, We're gonna follow

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ai structure. You ready. First thing AI does this every

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single time. It's very simple way it outlines it. First

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thing AI is gonna wants us to consider is the

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context and the structure. The context and the structure first,

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It's gonna give us the immediate context. The last hour

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we looked at the previous section, but I'll have AI

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break it down. Verses one through twenty four. Isaiah forty

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one through twenty four establishes God's sovereignty, his transcendence, and

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his superiority over idols and rulers. So in verses one

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through twenty four, what has Isaiah tried to tell the people?

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That God is sovereign, he is transcendent, and he is

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superior over idols and rulers. What is the significance of

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being sovereign? God is in charge of everything? What is

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the importance of being transcendent? He's above everything, He's not

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restricted to a specific situation, circumstance, or an image or

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anything along those lines. Next, he is superior over idols

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and rulers. Why is this important? Where are the people

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of Judah They are in Babylon, right and captivity in Babylon.

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What are they surrounded by a religious system that has idols, idols,

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a God for this, a God for this, and a

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God for that? What conclusion that could they come to?

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Especially in the culture in which they live, the gods

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they are surrounded by speak greater than their God. Because

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their temple is what destroyed their city is what destroyed?

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Where are they at captivity? So what could they conclude?

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The gods of Babylon are greater than their God. The

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rulers are Babylon are greater than their God. That's what

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they can conclude, all right, And so we talked about

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it in the last hour. Let me say it again.

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One of the most difficult things of believing in God,

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one of the most difficult things in any form of theism,

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is that we, especially for Christians, we believe in a

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God in whom we cannot see. Yet we are surrounded

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by circumstances which we see and we can feel. And

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what is always greater philological knowledge or experience experience because

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we are not governed by intellect. We are governed by

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feelings and emotions. Don't think that you are governed by intellect.

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That's why in the last section, God tells Israel over

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and over, have you not heard? Have you not known?

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You should know all of this? Did they know all

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of it? Yes? They had the law, they had the prophets,

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they had God's revelation. Yet when faced with circumstances, what

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would they do? And sometimes it's mind boggling to us? Right,

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they saw God part the Red Sea. Fifteen minutes later,

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they were like, where's God? Why? Because we are controlled

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by our emotions, and our emotions flow from what our

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sinful nature. Because our emotions flow from our sinful nature.

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Whenever we face circumstances, what do we have a tendency

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to do? We don't go running to God. We begin

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to question the existence of God, doubting God. That's why

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sometimes it's very confusing when people It shouldn't be confusing

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to us, but when we read the Bible, we're like,

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I mean, David saw God do a lot of amazing things, right,

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I mean he defeated Golliah with a slingshot. Right, he

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saw God do a lot of amazing things. But where

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was God? When he walked out one night on a

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roof and looked at someone bathing. God was still there?

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But David, what happens is circumstances we forget God. We

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look and when we make circumstances, when we face whatever

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it is, it can be a temptation, it can be

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a desire, it can be a problem, it can be

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a tragedy. At that very moment, we become practical atheist.

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God no longer exist in that and We're always talked like,

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how could someone do this? How could someone do that?

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Because all of the philological knowledge in the world, you

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could sit in church for five hours and I could

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preach to you love your enemy, love your neighbor, be kind,

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put other people before you. Husbands, love your wife as

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Christ love the church. Women, submit to your husband as

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unto the Lord. I could preach all all of this,

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all of this you could get in the for five hours.

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You could get in the car, and before you get

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from this building to Tuscola, what could be happening in

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the car arguing fighting selfishness after five hours of teaching?

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Now should my voice come into your car going have

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you not heard? Have you not known? Is it? Is

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it real? Is it a problem of you not knowing?

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It's not a problem of not knowing. It's a problem

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of what's inside of us? Right? That's how come when

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when when Christians say this, it bothers me when they

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look at somebody like man, where I wish those parents,

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those parents should have taught them better. The teaching of

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a parent does not change what the nature came knew

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the truth, he yet killed his problem. I mean, when

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you get those people in the Old Testament knew about God,

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yet they did what what what? So it's our nature.

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Israel knows all of this stuff, but they are being

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confronted with what idols and so God is talking to them.

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So one to twenty four he's trying to establish to

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them his sovereignty has transcended his superiority. Twenty five through

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thirty one there's somewhat of a shift. It shifts from

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philological declaration to more application, addressing Israel's doubts and offering

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hope and renewal. So in twenty five there's a shift. Basically,

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you can think of it. One through twenty four it's

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very philological, philological, philological. Twenty five through thirty one, it

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becomes trying to become more application focused. Now what can

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we not do? We got to be very careful to

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run in there and grab this for us. There are

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principles we can take, which we just gotta discuss, did

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we not? All right, So there's the immediate context. Now

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we're gonna do the structural breakdown. All right, breaks this

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down structurally into four parts. Part one is twenty five

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through twenty six. Everybody look at verse twenty five through

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twenty six. Tell me what this is about. The faster

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you answer, the faster we are done? Twenty five through

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twenty six. What is it about, okay, idea, It's very similar,

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It's very similar. It's repeating the same themes. Can we

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say that this is basically saying God is incomparable? Can

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we say that what do you see in the text

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that would go with this idea that God is unique,

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God is powerful over creation and this is just being reaffirmed.

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What do you see in twenty five through twenty six

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to stress that? Well, it starts with a question, as

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Sarah pointed out, to whom then will ye like in me?

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What is the answer? There is no one you can

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liken God to who shall I be equal? It's God

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equal with anything, No, nothing is equal with God. He

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is superior, great, transcend it to all of that. Say,

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it's the Holy One. He even refers to himself as

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the Holy One immediately, meaning what he is separate from

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everything else? Right, God is holy? Is anything like God

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and its holiness? Now I'm going to take a detour.

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You know what that means? Then when we see a

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scripture that says be holy as God is holy, we

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are never going to be as holy as God as holy?

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How can we be holy as God is holy? When

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God's holiness is accredited to my account? Does that make

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me holy? Just declares me to be holy? That when

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God declares himself to be holy, he is saying, no

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one is like me. So when pastors tell you to

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be holy as God is holy, as if it's something

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you can do, they're out of their ever living mind. Okay,

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because I can't do it. That's why Jesus came. Because

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we can't, all right. But the minute we so in

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some ways, if you say we can't, we're trying to

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like it ourselves under whom God, which is well, we

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shouldn't do that, all right. So God's uniqueness is clearly there.

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And verse twenty six, lift up your eyes on high.

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Behold who hath created these things that bringeth out their host?

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By number? He calleth them all by name, by the

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great greatness of his might, For he that is strong

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in power, not one felath. Basically, what is he saying

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to do? Look up and see what the heavens who

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made it? God, not the idols, not you, not the

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rulers of Babylon. Right he calls by name So it's

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showing his omniscience and his omnipotence. Okay, omnipotence means what

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powerful omniscience means all knowing? Okay, okay, everybody got that,

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all right, So it's showing both attributes. Okay. What happens

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in verse twenty seven, verse twenty five through twenty six

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is the incomparable God. What happens in verse twenty seven?

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All right, this is Israel's complaint, right, What is Israel saying?

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God is saying to them? Why say this, guys? Why

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say this? Oh Jacob? Why are you speaking O Israel?

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And what are they saying? My way is hid from

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the Lord and my judgment has passed over from my God?

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Everybody see that? All right? If you look at verse

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twenty seven, some translations will say, why do you say,

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oh Jacob and speak O Israel? My way is hidden

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from the Lord and my right is disregarded by my God. Basically,

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what are they saying? They've been forgotten? God is nowhere

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to be seen. This goes back and stresses what all

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of the philological knowledge doesn't mean anything when you've been

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punched in the face by the Babylonians. Taken from your

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country and thrown basically into captivity. You may go, Where's God?

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Because what rules us motion desire, circumstance, not intellect. And

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we know that practically. I've already stated it again again.

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I could teach you one hundred hours. Right, It's like,

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I mean, wouldn't it be great if we could just,

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I don't know, memorize the Ten Commandments and do them.

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Can anybody do the Ten Commandments? No, nobody can do.

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I want all the kids here to know you cannot

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obey the Ten Commandments. I know that's going to tick

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off most of American Christians. You cannot obey the Ten

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Commandments because the two obey the Ten Commandments. You have

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to do something what You have to obey everything and action.

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You have to obey everything in your words. You have

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to obey everything in your mind. You have to obey

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everything in your internally. So even if you do the

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right thing right, you're supposed to. You're supposed to love

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your enemy, You're supposed to love your neighbor. You're supposed

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to put others before you. Even if you're like, oh

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it's the last bowl of cereal, you can have it.

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That's obeying it. Which way externally, But five minutes later,

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if inside you're mad and you're angry, and someone's like,

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what's wrong, Nothing, nothing's wrong. You're mad because you didn't get. Now,

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you did the right thing, but then you're not doing

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the right thing. You see how you get you still

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haven't obeyed it. And even if you do the right thing,

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there there's going to be another area where you don't

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do the right thing. So what is the truth about humans?

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From a biblical perspective, we are perpetually in sin twenty

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four to seven. Three. Israel knows the truth because all

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of that emotion flows from where inside of us? All Right,

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I know I'm repeating myself, but it's the text is

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repeating Israel's complaining. In some ways, we want to condemn

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their complaint, but don't we understand their complaining. I understand

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their complaining. All right, apologize for sneezing into the microphone

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and people listening going what was that? All right? Here

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we go, All right, we got all of that. Israel

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expresses their doubt and feels forgotten by God. Can we

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agree with that? So twenty five through twenty six, the

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incomparable God. Verse twenty seven is Israel's complain. What happens

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in verse twenty eight? What happens in twenty eight? He

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goes back with what what does he say? Has now? No?

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What does he mean? He's responding to their complaint? Right,

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so they offer a complaint, and then he turns around

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and says, have you not known? So he's getting ready

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to do what He's going to answer their complaint? How

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did that? Well, let me ask you this. How does

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he answer their complaint? Does he answer the complaint with

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something specific or with something theoretical? Oh? Someone says specific?

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What does he say in that verse? Verse twenty eight?

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Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard that the

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everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator, the end of the

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earth fainteth not? Neither is weary. There is no searching

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of his understanding. There's nothing specific given to them. Right

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does he say your situation is going to get better? No?

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Say anything about that. What does he gives them? He

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gives them theology, He gives them the theoretical. He gives

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them the philological answer. Break down that theological answer for me? Okay,

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what is what is? What are the theiological answer he

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gives to their complaint? What is it? Give me the

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the attributes of God that are listed in that verse.

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God will not grow weary. All right, that's showing his omnipotence.

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He does not get tired. He does not get weary. Right,

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you could say is immutability. But okay, but all right,

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so we have at least it's omnipotence. There. What else,

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there's his omniscience again, omnipotent, omnipotence, omniscience. Anything else, oh,

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his eternality, the eternality of God, the omnipotence of God,

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the omniscience of God, any other attribute? Do what creator? Okay?

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Which what phrase? The creator of the ends of the earth.

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You see that? So he shows his crea. He is creator,

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he's omnipotent, he's omniscient, and he's eternal. It for twenty

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eight is basically theology one oh one. He's basically taking

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them back to theology class. So they they are facing

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their circumstances, they express their emotion, and he simply responds

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by reminding them of the theological truth. Does that theological

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truth gonna change their feelings or emotions? No? But why

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does he give them theological truth? Because the only consistent

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thing in life is the truth about God? What is

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not consistent the circumstances are going to encounter. Are they

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going to encounter more negative circumstances after they leave Babylonian captivity? Yes?

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Are they gonna suffer under the Romans? Yes? Are they

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gonna suffer seventy a d Yes. Did the Jews suffer

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during the Holocaust and Nazi Germany? Yes? Do they not

404
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suffer under anti Semitism today? Yes? Are they still in

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their land? No? Are they still? I don't know what

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happened in October the seventh to what a year ago?

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Two years ago, three thousand were slaughtered and killed over

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and over and over. The circumstances never get better because

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we live in a fallen world. It never is going

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to get better. That's why we got to be very

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careful with practical promises. Now they can rely on some

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practical promises because of the covenants. So what is it saying?

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Sometimes in life, all we can revert back to are

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the philological truths about God because circumstances may never get better.

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So whatever we face, what can we know about God?

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He's omnipotent, he's eternal, he's omniscient, and he's Creator. So

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go through those attributes again, omnipotent, what does that mean?

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All powerful? Omniscient means all knowing, eternal means everlasting, there's

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no beginning, there's no end. Creator means he made everything

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that's true. Now does that always help you in your circumstance? Now,

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in their situation, it is very meaningful because his power

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and his knowledge is getting me ready to demonstrate itself

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by getting them out of captivity. But he's going to

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get them out of capt captivity in a very non

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spectacular way. Right, there's nothing. There's not going to be

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the parting of the Red Sea or anything. But for us,

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this is where our philosophical problems began. Because if I

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have a God who's all powerful, all knowing, eternal and creator,

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I sure wish you would do more than he's doing.

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And it's perfectly okay to struggle with that feeling. Now,

431
00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:57.400
what the Texas didn't demonstrating is circumstances does not prove

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or disprove the existence of God, because God could be

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those things, and circumstances does not disprove it because He's

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still those things, irregardless of the circumstances. That's not easy

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00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:12.680
to comprehend, right, it's not it's not easy for me

436
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to comprehend. But everyone see what he just did there?

437
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All right? So versus the structural breakdown, the incomparable God.

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In verse twenty five through twenty six, he stresses basically

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God's unique power in creation. Everybody see that. Then twenty

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00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:32.440
seven he addresses their complaint by doing what basically repeating

441
00:29:32.519 --> 00:29:35.920
verses twenty five through twenty six. He just repeats it.

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So this piological truth has been repeated numerous time. Now

443
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what does he do in verses twenty nine through thirty one, Oh,

444
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we're doing pretty good on time. Twenty nine through thirty one.

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What happens here? Everybody read it? Everybody look at it.

446
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It's open book test. What happens in twenty nine, This

447
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is a dramatic change. Twenty five through twenty six is

448
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philological or theoretical? And I'm saying theoretical because it's like,

449
00:30:06.119 --> 00:30:09.039
you can't necessarily it's not tangible, right, twenty seven is

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their complaint. Twenty eight he goes back to the theological

451
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What does he do in twenty nine to thirty one?

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It's radically different than anything in the entire chapter. Really,

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Now it seems very well, let me say it, Okay,

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I gotta be careful. It's not specific in the sense

455
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there's nothing tangible like exactly what he's going to do.

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But now it seems to go from the theoretical at least,

457
00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:38.039
that God is saying what I'm going to do something right.

458
00:30:38.119 --> 00:30:41.480
I'm going to be involved in some way, shape or form.

459
00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:45.960
It's almost like he's saying, I'm going to use my

460
00:30:46.160 --> 00:30:50.279
attributes to help you out. Can we agree with that?

461
00:30:51.319 --> 00:30:54.839
Ai says it this way, the week are going to

462
00:30:54.920 --> 00:30:58.880
be renewed by trusting in God, contrasting human frailty with

463
00:30:58.960 --> 00:31:02.559
divine strength. So the week are going to be renewed

464
00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:05.839
by trusting. Do we agree that? Twenty nine through thirty

465
00:31:05.880 --> 00:31:09.759
one seems to indicate that the secret to their renewal

466
00:31:09.920 --> 00:31:15.400
will be in their trusting. Do we agree or disagree

467
00:31:15.400 --> 00:31:22.839
with that assessment? Twenty nine to thirty one the whole

468
00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:29.160
section the secret to their renewal is in their trusting.

469
00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:32.440
Do we agree with that? Steven seems committed to saying yes,

470
00:31:33.319 --> 00:31:37.720
all right, we are. Now this is very important. Why

471
00:31:38.480 --> 00:31:40.799
when this says they're going to be renewed and they're trusting,

472
00:31:41.119 --> 00:31:44.680
they are renewed on which this is the foundation they

473
00:31:44.759 --> 00:31:48.839
can trust in God to act. Why can they trust

474
00:31:48.839 --> 00:31:53.039
in God to act because they have a specific promise

475
00:31:53.359 --> 00:31:57.759
for their specific situation. Does that make sense?

476
00:31:59.279 --> 00:31:59.359
Now?

477
00:31:59.400 --> 00:32:01.480
We got to be very very careful here. I just

478
00:32:01.599 --> 00:32:03.440
listened to a sermon on the way here. In fact,

479
00:32:03.480 --> 00:32:06.079
when the when the Dazzlers walked in, I was still

480
00:32:06.119 --> 00:32:09.279
listening to it. That it takes verse thirty one wait

481
00:32:09.319 --> 00:32:10.839
on the Lord, and guess what it turned it into?

482
00:32:11.839 --> 00:32:14.559
Are are you are? There's some things going on in

483
00:32:14.559 --> 00:32:16.799
your life that you want to be fixed, Well, you

484
00:32:16.839 --> 00:32:19.079
just need to wait on the Lord. You can't give

485
00:32:19.119 --> 00:32:24.039
that promise to people in that way. They can expect

486
00:32:24.039 --> 00:32:29.119
God to intervene, how in their captivity because they have

487
00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:32.200
been promised that God is going to deliver them from

488
00:32:32.200 --> 00:32:34.720
their captivity. So if they will trust in God to

489
00:32:34.759 --> 00:32:38.920
deliver for their captivity, their strength is renewed in what way,

490
00:32:39.640 --> 00:32:45.839
giving them the hope to carry on through the captivity

491
00:32:46.119 --> 00:32:50.680
because God is specifically promised to deliver them from that captivity.

492
00:32:52.160 --> 00:32:55.480
Does that make sense? We can't run to this and say, well,

493
00:32:55.519 --> 00:32:57.599
God is going to give me some strength and a

494
00:32:57.960 --> 00:33:00.720
m in this situation. But we can apply it to

495
00:33:00.799 --> 00:33:04.160
us in this way, where do we currently remember we

496
00:33:04.319 --> 00:33:07.359
If we want to draw a correlation, here's the correlation.

497
00:33:07.720 --> 00:33:11.799
We currently live in our own captivity, right. I'm captive

498
00:33:11.839 --> 00:33:15.599
to the flesh. I have a sinful nature. I live

499
00:33:15.640 --> 00:33:18.359
in a world where there's pain, suffering, death and disease.

500
00:33:18.799 --> 00:33:22.359
I'm there. Can I escape this world? Is Christianity escape

501
00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:24.839
to this world? No, I'm in it. I'm not of it,

502
00:33:24.920 --> 00:33:27.400
but I'm still in it and I'm still impacted by it.

503
00:33:27.880 --> 00:33:31.960
But what do I do know? There will come a

504
00:33:32.079 --> 00:33:40.359
time that Heaven will open, Christ returns, and then ultimately

505
00:33:40.400 --> 00:33:45.079
there'll be no more pain, suffering, death or tears, a

506
00:33:45.119 --> 00:33:47.960
new Heaven and a new Earth. I know that's coming,

507
00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:51.559
So that is supposed to. Then I can find strength,

508
00:33:52.119 --> 00:33:55.279
not that my circumstance is going to get better, but

509
00:33:55.400 --> 00:33:59.839
that in the end it will. That's far different. I

510
00:34:00.119 --> 00:34:04.960
can preach that and be textually correct. I can promise

511
00:34:05.039 --> 00:34:07.920
you that if you will trust in God, he will

512
00:34:07.960 --> 00:34:11.119
you will find strength. But the strength is not that

513
00:34:11.239 --> 00:34:13.719
your problem is gonna get your cancer is going to

514
00:34:13.760 --> 00:34:17.119
go away, something's gonna work out fine with your child

515
00:34:17.360 --> 00:34:19.800
or your job, or this or that this is not

516
00:34:19.880 --> 00:34:22.159
going to happen or this tragedy is not going to happen,

517
00:34:22.239 --> 00:34:24.760
or that this problem is going to get better, or

518
00:34:24.760 --> 00:34:27.559
this problem is getting I have no assurance of anything

519
00:34:27.599 --> 00:34:30.320
getting better. In fact, they're the high probability things may

520
00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:36.199
actually get worse. You have no hope, and that my

521
00:34:36.440 --> 00:34:42.320
hope is where just as God delivered Judah from Babylon,

522
00:34:42.920 --> 00:34:48.840
I will be delivered ultimately from this world, this flesh,

523
00:34:48.920 --> 00:34:52.880
but that will be in eternity. I can't grab the

524
00:34:52.920 --> 00:34:56.039
promise of eternity and pull it into the present because

525
00:34:56.079 --> 00:35:02.320
I have no promise of the present. Does that make sense?

526
00:35:02.519 --> 00:35:06.719
So there can be strength gained, but it's gain and

527
00:35:06.800 --> 00:35:09.480
what God will do that's supposed to get me through

528
00:35:09.519 --> 00:35:15.159
the duration of the present. Does that make sense? Yes?

529
00:35:15.400 --> 00:35:18.519
All right? So the structural breakdown US twenty five through

530
00:35:18.519 --> 00:35:22.079
twenty six, which is about what the incomparable God. Verse

531
00:35:22.079 --> 00:35:25.199
twenty seven is Israel's complaint. Verse twenty eight is basically

532
00:35:25.239 --> 00:35:30.199
a philological lession on what God's attributes. Okay, Verse twenty

533
00:35:30.280 --> 00:35:33.079
nine through thirty one is about strength for the weary.

534
00:35:33.840 --> 00:35:37.760
Everybody got that? Yes, all right, Now let's do the

535
00:35:37.800 --> 00:35:41.840
exegetical analysis. What does that mean? Well? AI breaks it

536
00:35:41.880 --> 00:35:44.480
down structurally now it's going to expound on it. I

537
00:35:44.480 --> 00:35:46.480
shouldn't have to expound on it, because what did we

538
00:35:46.599 --> 00:35:50.280
just do? Did I not just expound on it? Okay,

539
00:35:50.280 --> 00:35:52.519
So let's go through this quickly, all right? Twenty five

540
00:35:52.559 --> 00:35:56.599
through twenty six. The incomparable creator to whom, then will

541
00:35:56.639 --> 00:35:59.719
you compare me? That I should be like him? Says

542
00:35:59.760 --> 00:36:03.639
the whole It's a rhetorical question. It's emphasizing God's uniqueness.

543
00:36:03.840 --> 00:36:07.360
The rhetorical question calls the audience to reject idolatry and

544
00:36:07.440 --> 00:36:11.840
false comparisons. The term Holy One is a title emphasizing

545
00:36:11.920 --> 00:36:19.199
God's absolute separateness from creation, which is what I stressed

546
00:36:19.199 --> 00:36:23.119
in my not following AI. Okay, same thing, all right,

547
00:36:23.920 --> 00:36:26.800
God is separate, all right. Lift up your eyes on

548
00:36:26.920 --> 00:36:30.400
high and see who created these? He who brings out

549
00:36:30.679 --> 00:36:33.360
their host by number, calling them all by name, by

550
00:36:33.360 --> 00:36:35.360
the greatness of his might, and because he is strong

551
00:36:35.400 --> 00:36:38.880
in power, not one is missing. All right, we see

552
00:36:38.880 --> 00:36:43.440
that right now. This, this then demonstrates God as sovereign,

553
00:36:43.800 --> 00:36:46.840
and he's the sovereign lord over all of the universe.

554
00:36:47.199 --> 00:36:49.400
Lift up your eyes as a call to reflect on

555
00:36:49.440 --> 00:36:52.639
the vastness of Heaven who created these? This is a

556
00:36:52.679 --> 00:36:56.480
direct challenge to the idolatry. The stars are not deities

557
00:36:56.519 --> 00:36:59.920
but created things. Don't look to the stars as being God,

558
00:37:00.039 --> 00:37:04.280
but they were created. Calling them by name. Ancient Near

559
00:37:04.320 --> 00:37:11.280
Eastern cultures often name stars as gods, but Yahweh names

560
00:37:11.320 --> 00:37:14.440
them and controls them. So it's like, no, you don't

561
00:37:14.519 --> 00:37:19.880
name them, God named them God. He is demonstrating his

562
00:37:20.159 --> 00:37:24.599
sovereignty over their religious beliefs of Babylon. That's what he's doing,

563
00:37:24.639 --> 00:37:27.719
all right. It's a theological lesson, as we've already demonstrated.

564
00:37:27.920 --> 00:37:31.719
What is the implication God sustains the stars? How much

565
00:37:31.719 --> 00:37:35.199
more will he sustain his people Judah and their captivity?

566
00:37:35.199 --> 00:37:39.800
All right? So there is the uh, we're doing the

567
00:37:39.880 --> 00:37:42.840
kind of the breakdown here. He has rhetorical questions. God

568
00:37:42.920 --> 00:37:46.920
is sovereign then Isaiah forty through twenty seven or Isaiah

569
00:37:46.960 --> 00:37:50.239
forty twenty seven. This is Israel's complaint. Why do you say, oh,

570
00:37:50.320 --> 00:37:52.519
Jacob and speak o Israel? My way is hidden from

571
00:37:52.519 --> 00:37:55.519
the Lord? Am I right? Is disregard my rights or

572
00:37:55.679 --> 00:37:59.960
rights is disregarded by my God? Israel's doubt and complain

573
00:38:00.480 --> 00:38:04.199
my way is hidden? Israel feels abandoned, struggling to reconcile

574
00:38:04.239 --> 00:38:08.280
God's promises. With their exile, my right is disregarded. It's

575
00:38:08.320 --> 00:38:11.960
a legal term implying God has ignored their case. So

576
00:38:12.039 --> 00:38:15.280
basically what they're saying is, God, we've brought our case

577
00:38:15.400 --> 00:38:19.119
to your courtroom, and you will not hear us. You

578
00:38:19.239 --> 00:38:23.280
will not listen to us. We have a case against you.

579
00:38:23.280 --> 00:38:25.199
You claim to do all this stuff, but you haven't

580
00:38:25.199 --> 00:38:30.079
done anything for us. That's their complaint, right, and Israel

581
00:38:30.159 --> 00:38:32.960
question reveals a common human struggle. Where is God when

582
00:38:33.000 --> 00:38:36.880
we suffer? And that's a common struggle. And we've already

583
00:38:36.880 --> 00:38:39.760
talked about the theological implications of it. Right, What are

584
00:38:39.760 --> 00:38:44.119
we controlled by emotion and desire? Not our intellect? Okay,

585
00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.719
it's an emotional response, right Verse twenty eight. The eternal,

586
00:38:49.840 --> 00:38:52.840
all knowing God. Have you not known? Have you not heard?

587
00:38:52.920 --> 00:38:55.119
The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the

588
00:38:55.199 --> 00:38:57.480
ends of the earth. He does not faint, grow weary.

589
00:38:57.679 --> 00:39:04.159
His understanding is unsearchable. Basically, it's reaffirming philological truths. Have

590
00:39:04.280 --> 00:39:07.440
you not known? Have you not heard? Israel? Isaiah calls

591
00:39:07.480 --> 00:39:11.760
Isaiah or Israel to remember what they already know, everlasting God,

592
00:39:11.960 --> 00:39:16.199
unlike human rulers or idols. Yahweh exists beyond time, creator

593
00:39:16.239 --> 00:39:18.480
of the ends of the earth. God's power is universal,

594
00:39:18.960 --> 00:39:22.800
not just not just to local Israel, but everywhere. It

595
00:39:22.840 --> 00:39:26.159
does not faint and grow weary. In contrast to human weakness.

596
00:39:26.239 --> 00:39:29.719
God's strength is limitless. And we talked about all of

597
00:39:29.760 --> 00:39:33.920
the attributes there. Now twenty nine through thirty one, I'm

598
00:39:33.920 --> 00:39:35.920
going to spend a little bit more time here because

599
00:39:36.920 --> 00:39:40.559
this is where all the sermons go right twenty nine

600
00:39:40.559 --> 00:39:42.239
through thirty one, everybody want to look at that. We

601
00:39:42.280 --> 00:39:43.679
can try to wrap this up here. We're going to

602
00:39:43.719 --> 00:39:47.000
bring this to some dramatic conclusion. Here we go. He

603
00:39:47.079 --> 00:39:49.920
gives power to the feint and to him who has

604
00:39:49.960 --> 00:39:55.320
no might. He increases strength divine empowerment for the week.

605
00:39:56.440 --> 00:39:59.920
God's strength is not just cosmic, but it is personal.

606
00:40:00.480 --> 00:40:04.000
He sustains the week. The emphasis is not on self

607
00:40:04.039 --> 00:40:08.840
reliance but divine dependence. Now, the strength here is promised

608
00:40:08.840 --> 00:40:18.280
to whom Judah right, So in a practical way, the

609
00:40:18.400 --> 00:40:21.800
strength could be defined as if we're gonna get very practical. Now,

610
00:40:21.840 --> 00:40:24.840
most sermons you go to it's just some vague promise. Guys,

611
00:40:25.320 --> 00:40:27.719
wait on God and He's going to strengthen you this

612
00:40:27.760 --> 00:40:30.440
week when you go through that difficult problem. If you

613
00:40:30.480 --> 00:40:32.039
hear a sermon like that, just get up and leave

614
00:40:32.079 --> 00:40:35.239
your church. It's useless, all right, that's not the promise.

615
00:40:35.880 --> 00:40:39.760
He is promising to strengthen whom those in captivity. What

616
00:40:39.800 --> 00:40:46.360
does that mean? Practically? Judah as a divided kingdom they

617
00:40:46.400 --> 00:40:51.400
went into captivity, and Judah as a kingdom they will

618
00:40:51.400 --> 00:40:54.800
come out. Is it a promise that every individual who

619
00:40:54.880 --> 00:40:58.519
goes in is coming out? If you apply this individually,

620
00:40:58.840 --> 00:41:00.800
I guarantee you there were people who went into that

621
00:41:00.840 --> 00:41:04.360
captivity who died, so God didn't obviously give them enough

622
00:41:04.360 --> 00:41:07.400
strength to even make it out. I mean they were

623
00:41:07.440 --> 00:41:11.440
there for seventy years. The lifespan at that time would

624
00:41:11.440 --> 00:41:13.840
not have been like that. No people went in and

625
00:41:13.840 --> 00:41:17.199
people died. So the strength here is then as a

626
00:41:17.280 --> 00:41:20.480
group goes in, He's going to bring them out. Did

627
00:41:20.480 --> 00:41:23.840
he do that? That's what it's referencing here. If you

628
00:41:23.920 --> 00:41:26.480
make it a personal I know that destroys every sermon

629
00:41:26.519 --> 00:41:28.599
you've ever heard on it, but I'm sorry, that's the

630
00:41:28.599 --> 00:41:32.400
only way to understand it. All right. Even youths shall

631
00:41:32.440 --> 00:41:35.199
faint and be weary, and young men shall be exhausted.

632
00:41:35.400 --> 00:41:38.400
Human strength, even at its peak, is temporary. That is

633
00:41:38.440 --> 00:41:44.639
true all humans. Our strength is what limited and temporary?

634
00:41:45.199 --> 00:41:48.800
So what does he want them to understand? God's strength

635
00:41:48.880 --> 00:41:52.280
is eternal and inexhaustible. So what is Judah need to do?

636
00:41:52.840 --> 00:41:55.159
They need to realize they've got to rely on God

637
00:41:55.360 --> 00:41:58.599
to get them through this based on what specific promises

638
00:41:58.719 --> 00:42:03.760
given to them. I can rely on specific promises given

639
00:42:03.800 --> 00:42:08.639
to me right that God will create a new heaven

640
00:42:08.679 --> 00:42:10.119
and a new Earth, and there'll be no more pain

641
00:42:10.119 --> 00:42:12.320
and no more suffering and no more death. I can

642
00:42:12.519 --> 00:42:15.480
rely that my sins have been removed as far as

643
00:42:15.519 --> 00:42:17.679
the east is from the west, and that christ righteousness

644
00:42:17.679 --> 00:42:20.000
has been imputed to my account. I can rely on

645
00:42:20.039 --> 00:42:23.280
those things because those are specifically to me. Does that

646
00:42:23.320 --> 00:42:26.320
make sense all right? But they that wait for the

647
00:42:26.320 --> 00:42:29.039
Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with

648
00:42:29.079 --> 00:42:31.480
wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary,

649
00:42:31.599 --> 00:42:34.880
and they shall walk and not faint. Now, the key

650
00:42:34.920 --> 00:42:37.920
to strength here is said to be waiting on the Lord.

651
00:42:38.599 --> 00:42:42.599
To wait is more than a passive waiting. It means hoping, trusting,

652
00:42:42.920 --> 00:42:47.199
and expecting. So the key to their strength, it says,

653
00:42:47.239 --> 00:42:50.000
to wait. But the weight here at least in the Hebrew,

654
00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:53.039
at least according to Ai, carries more than just like

655
00:42:53.280 --> 00:42:59.239
I'm just passively waiting. It's trusting the key to their

656
00:42:59.480 --> 00:43:05.000
being strengthened. As they're trusting. Now, why can that help them? Right?

657
00:43:05.119 --> 00:43:07.800
If you're in a bad situation. If you're in a

658
00:43:07.840 --> 00:43:11.400
bad situation, you can start to lose hope. Right, But

659
00:43:11.519 --> 00:43:16.440
if you know ultimately the situation is going to come

660
00:43:16.480 --> 00:43:18.280
to an end and then this and this and this

661
00:43:18.360 --> 00:43:21.880
is going to happen, theoretically, that should strengthen you. Now,

662
00:43:21.880 --> 00:43:25.199
what's the problem with the theoretical as we are driven

663
00:43:25.280 --> 00:43:28.920
not by the intellectual reality or driven by the emotions.

664
00:43:29.199 --> 00:43:33.400
So but in theory, they can be strengthened if they

665
00:43:33.400 --> 00:43:35.800
will remember God is going to deliver them from Babylon

666
00:43:36.199 --> 00:43:39.760
Babylonian excel. There is going to be an end to it,

667
00:43:41.159 --> 00:43:44.000
right and there even for us, there'll be an end

668
00:43:44.000 --> 00:43:46.559
to it if we can remember that. Do we do

669
00:43:46.599 --> 00:43:49.360
a good job remembering that? Because I'm like, well, that's

670
00:43:49.400 --> 00:43:54.079
eternity I need It's tomorrow is Monday. I got problems now,

671
00:43:56.440 --> 00:44:01.719
and that that's the difficulty, right, Okay, renew their strength literally,

672
00:44:01.800 --> 00:44:04.559
exchange their weakness for God's power. Now you've got to

673
00:44:04.559 --> 00:44:08.519
be careful with that. He's going to exchange their weakness

674
00:44:08.519 --> 00:44:10.960
for his power. And what and what way? Now you

675
00:44:11.000 --> 00:44:14.079
got to understand this and it's historical context. God is

676
00:44:14.119 --> 00:44:17.440
going to exchange their weakness with his power? And what way?

677
00:44:19.039 --> 00:44:21.800
This is a until we get this question answered, we

678
00:44:21.840 --> 00:44:27.719
don't leave church. How is he going to exchange their

679
00:44:27.760 --> 00:44:33.280
weakness for his power? Do they have the power to

680
00:44:33.320 --> 00:44:36.840
release themselves? No? So God is going to exchange their

681
00:44:36.880 --> 00:44:39.440
weakness for his power because he's going to be the

682
00:44:39.440 --> 00:44:42.920
one to deliver for them. This doesn't mean all of

683
00:44:42.960 --> 00:44:46.800
a sudden they're like, dun du dum, I can overcome this.

684
00:44:47.079 --> 00:44:50.519
I can overcome that. It's that's ridiculous way if we

685
00:44:50.639 --> 00:44:53.239
think of it, and that's how preachers preach this about us. No,

686
00:44:53.719 --> 00:44:57.400
this is do you have the power to create a

687
00:44:57.400 --> 00:44:59.039
new heaven and new Earth where there's no more pay,

688
00:44:59.079 --> 00:45:02.599
no more suffering, no more death, No by relying on God.

689
00:45:02.760 --> 00:45:05.280
He's going to exchange your weakness for his power because

690
00:45:05.280 --> 00:45:08.800
He's gonna do what you can't do. If I trust

691
00:45:08.840 --> 00:45:12.159
in Christ, guess what do I have the power to

692
00:45:12.199 --> 00:45:16.920
make myself righteous? Positionally or practically no, But guess what.

693
00:45:16.960 --> 00:45:19.400
When I put my faith in Christ, my weakness is

694
00:45:19.440 --> 00:45:22.239
exchanged with his power because I'm declared to be something

695
00:45:22.360 --> 00:45:25.400
that I could not make myself to be, which is righteous,

696
00:45:25.880 --> 00:45:30.880
not practically but seriously. And He's gonna replace my weakness

697
00:45:30.880 --> 00:45:32.760
with power because there'll be a time that I'll no

698
00:45:32.800 --> 00:45:35.480
longer have a sinful nature and I'll be made like him.

699
00:45:37.360 --> 00:45:40.119
That's how our weakness is exchanged with power. I know

700
00:45:40.159 --> 00:45:43.039
that goes against every sermon, because every sermon is gonna

701
00:45:43.039 --> 00:45:46.760
be like, Hey, if you're struggling this Sunday, you just

702
00:45:46.880 --> 00:45:50.000
rest in God and he's gonna give you power. On Monday,

703
00:45:50.239 --> 00:45:52.960
he's gonna give you power on Tuesday, he's gonna rep

704
00:45:53.000 --> 00:45:56.559
I'll just stop it. Okay, that's stuff. I just I

705
00:45:56.599 --> 00:45:59.840
want to throw something when when pastors start that non

706
00:46:00.559 --> 00:46:07.800
it's not true, okay, Because you're a human being in flesh,

707
00:46:07.840 --> 00:46:10.000
you still have that weakness. In fact, you have an

708
00:46:10.039 --> 00:46:15.239
inherent weakness called sinful nature. It doesn't go away. So

709
00:46:15.559 --> 00:46:17.960
in what way is their weakness going to be replaced?

710
00:46:19.119 --> 00:46:21.559
God is going to do for them what they are

711
00:46:21.760 --> 00:46:26.360
powerless to do. They cannot get themselves out of Babylonian captivity.

712
00:46:26.639 --> 00:46:28.880
I know I am completely rewriting the way this has

713
00:46:28.880 --> 00:46:32.719
been interpreted. I don't care every sermon has been preached

714
00:46:32.760 --> 00:46:35.079
on this has been wrong. I will stand my ground

715
00:46:35.159 --> 00:46:39.239
on this because I know facts. I mean, the thing

716
00:46:39.360 --> 00:46:41.679
I thought when I became a Christian as a teenager

717
00:46:41.880 --> 00:46:44.159
in Tuscola, Texas, is I was going to get some

718
00:46:44.360 --> 00:46:46.039
power and I was going to be able to do

719
00:46:46.280 --> 00:46:49.760
that which I could. And all these years later, guess what,

720
00:46:49.840 --> 00:46:54.559
I still know that I'd never be able to achieve

721
00:46:54.599 --> 00:46:56.719
all the things pre pastors have promise that I could

722
00:46:56.719 --> 00:46:58.559
be able to achieve, because they make it sound like

723
00:46:58.599 --> 00:47:01.159
I can basically be like a super hero walk on water.

724
00:47:03.039 --> 00:47:09.800
Not true, says everyone understand that. Okay, I cannot stress

725
00:47:09.840 --> 00:47:12.440
that enough. Right, He's going to exchange their weakness for

726
00:47:12.519 --> 00:47:15.880
his power, in his power being the thing that delivers them,

727
00:47:16.079 --> 00:47:21.159
mount up with wings like eagles, symbolizing effortless sustain strength. Well,

728
00:47:21.159 --> 00:47:23.400
how is he gonna mount them with wings as eagles?

729
00:47:23.559 --> 00:47:28.719
He's going to bring them from Babylon to Judah. He's

730
00:47:28.760 --> 00:47:31.760
going to be the one doing that through whom Cyrus.

731
00:47:31.800 --> 00:47:34.320
All right, run and not be weary walking, not faith

732
00:47:34.519 --> 00:47:38.280
highlights God's power for both extraordinary and ordinary endurance. They're

733
00:47:38.280 --> 00:47:41.079
going as a again, not as an individual. If you

734
00:47:41.119 --> 00:47:43.840
make an individualistic all you gonna do is go prove

735
00:47:43.920 --> 00:47:46.000
that someone in Judah died and I guess that you

736
00:47:46.079 --> 00:47:48.159
blame them for dying because they didn't have enough faith.

737
00:47:48.239 --> 00:47:53.840
Oh that sounds like Christianity, right, No, for Judah, for Israel,

738
00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:58.440
He's going to sustain them. Do they look like they

739
00:47:58.440 --> 00:48:03.400
don't exist now in many ways? I mean we see

740
00:48:03.400 --> 00:48:05.039
them now, but I mean at least for a long

741
00:48:05.039 --> 00:48:07.760
time they didn't even exist. But they look weak, powerless.

742
00:48:07.920 --> 00:48:11.360
But God will one day bring Israel, save them according

743
00:48:11.360 --> 00:48:14.960
to the Bible, and then give them the kingdom. But

744
00:48:15.039 --> 00:48:17.920
that's all going to be whom God is going to

745
00:48:17.960 --> 00:48:22.719
do it again, not an individual for the nation, for Judah.

746
00:48:23.320 --> 00:48:28.559
This is all based off Covenant language. So everybody got that, right.

747
00:48:28.559 --> 00:48:31.360
So what are the theological themes here? AI wants us

748
00:48:31.400 --> 00:48:36.400
to know theological themes? Right? Three? This is going to

749
00:48:36.440 --> 00:48:41.599
sound very similar to the Last Hour. God is incomparable,

750
00:48:42.880 --> 00:48:46.360
no idol, no ruler, no power compares to God. Nothing

751
00:48:46.440 --> 00:48:50.760
compares to God, Nothing compares to God. Gonna change in

752
00:48:50.880 --> 00:48:54.079
at O'Connor's song to nothing compares to God? Right said

753
00:48:54.079 --> 00:48:57.559
that nothing compares to you, nothing compares to God. Right,

754
00:48:59.000 --> 00:49:02.360
there's a music reference for those who didn't get it. Okay, right. Next,

755
00:49:02.800 --> 00:49:08.920
God is faithful even when Israel feels abandoned. God remains faithful.

756
00:49:09.159 --> 00:49:13.920
God is faithful to what to his covenant? God is

757
00:49:13.960 --> 00:49:18.480
faithful to his covenant. Do they see God's faithfulness? They

758
00:49:18.519 --> 00:49:21.039
don't see it yet, They don't even feel like they're

759
00:49:21.079 --> 00:49:25.400
experiencing it. Same thing. God is faithful to us, but

760
00:49:25.519 --> 00:49:30.119
we may not always see it or experience it. Number

761
00:49:30.119 --> 00:49:35.559
three human frailty versus divine strength. Well, this is what

762
00:49:35.639 --> 00:49:39.320
I would say. Well we can just go with human

763
00:49:39.320 --> 00:49:42.519
frailty versus divine strength. Just know it this way. We

764
00:49:42.559 --> 00:49:45.679
are frail and God has to do what we cannot do.

765
00:49:46.559 --> 00:49:51.400
What could Judah not do? Free themselves? What can we

766
00:49:51.440 --> 00:49:58.000
not do? Save ourselves? God replaces our frailty with his

767
00:49:58.079 --> 00:50:00.719
strength and doing for us what we can. That does

768
00:50:00.800 --> 00:50:05.480
not mean I get some supernatural power and practical circumstances.

769
00:50:05.559 --> 00:50:09.360
The way it's preached, it's so, I guess. Can you

770
00:50:09.400 --> 00:50:11.639
imagine how many sermons have been preached where people sit

771
00:50:11.679 --> 00:50:14.519
in church they're going through a difficult time, they're struggling,

772
00:50:14.679 --> 00:50:18.119
they're waiting. This is happening, This is happening, this problem.

773
00:50:18.280 --> 00:50:20.760
Someone is dying of cancer, their child's been hit by

774
00:50:20.760 --> 00:50:23.039
a drunk driver, and who's laying in the hospital. This

775
00:50:23.119 --> 00:50:25.880
is going on. They're struggling with work or finances or this,

776
00:50:26.119 --> 00:50:28.760
or their marriages falling apart. And you're told by your

777
00:50:28.800 --> 00:50:33.039
pastor wait on the Lord and he will give you strength,

778
00:50:33.239 --> 00:50:36.320
and he's gonna help you through your problem. And then

779
00:50:36.360 --> 00:50:38.559
your problem gets worse and worse and worse, and then

780
00:50:38.599 --> 00:50:41.239
you feel guilty for not feeling the supposed strength that

781
00:50:41.280 --> 00:50:43.599
the pastor preached to you on Sunday, because he is

782
00:50:43.639 --> 00:50:53.840
a stinking liar. That's not the promise. The promise was

783
00:50:53.840 --> 00:50:57.400
for them to do something for them, and the promise

784
00:50:57.400 --> 00:50:59.920
can be applied to me, for God will do something

785
00:51:00.079 --> 00:51:01.760
for me. But it has nothing to do with what

786
00:51:01.800 --> 00:51:05.400
my problem is today. Because your problem today may not

787
00:51:05.679 --> 00:51:13.679
get any better. In fact, it could be terminal. I

788
00:51:13.719 --> 00:51:16.599
know that's not popular, but it's just very true. It

789
00:51:16.639 --> 00:51:19.719
doesn't always work that way. When I got the news

790
00:51:19.719 --> 00:51:23.039
that my mother was in the hospital, get there. I

791
00:51:23.119 --> 00:51:25.920
went to first Baptist church, spent all night in prayer.

792
00:51:29.320 --> 00:51:31.960
She didn't make it well. But God gave you straight

793
00:51:32.000 --> 00:51:35.440
to get through it, did he? Because I just remember

794
00:51:35.519 --> 00:51:37.400
going down this highway, and I can take you out

795
00:51:37.440 --> 00:51:40.199
to the middle of nowhere where I lived, kneeling down,

796
00:51:40.280 --> 00:51:43.559
taking a gun, trying to kill myself. So obviously I

797
00:51:43.559 --> 00:51:46.239
didn't have any strength or power. I'd reached the end

798
00:51:46.239 --> 00:51:54.280
of myself. Now was God's power still there? Well? The

799
00:51:54.320 --> 00:51:58.920
power in what way? I was still declared righteous? Even

800
00:51:58.920 --> 00:52:01.360
though my action would have demonstrated I was a great

801
00:52:01.840 --> 00:52:04.960
sinner who did not trust God. God will still been

802
00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:07.719
faithful because salvation is not based on what I do

803
00:52:07.840 --> 00:52:10.559
or don't do, or I trust it. That part still existed,

804
00:52:10.840 --> 00:52:13.440
even though humanly speaking, you'd be like you gave up

805
00:52:13.440 --> 00:52:15.920
on God. Now Christians can condemn me and say, I

806
00:52:15.920 --> 00:52:18.039
don't even think you were safe, because no Christian would

807
00:52:18.039 --> 00:52:20.280
ever come to that point, because Christians love to talk

808
00:52:20.320 --> 00:52:25.559
that way. But I could not perceive that. I wasn't

809
00:52:25.599 --> 00:52:28.840
thinking about eternity. I was thinking about the now because

810
00:52:28.840 --> 00:52:32.039
in the now, but in the now, when I'm weak,

811
00:52:32.239 --> 00:52:35.159
God's strength still remains, and God will still do what

812
00:52:35.280 --> 00:52:38.599
I can't do. He saves me based on what he did,

813
00:52:38.719 --> 00:52:41.440
not what I can do. He will put me in eternity,

814
00:52:41.599 --> 00:52:43.719
not based on what I can do, but based on

815
00:52:43.760 --> 00:52:46.800
what He can do. That's how we replace our weakness

816
00:52:46.840 --> 00:52:50.480
with his strength. I know that goes against every sermon

817
00:52:50.519 --> 00:52:53.039
you've ever heard, but I am sick of all the

818
00:52:53.079 --> 00:52:55.440
sermons I've heard on it because they lie to people.

819
00:52:56.079 --> 00:52:59.159
They give people false assurance that everything's going to be better.

820
00:53:00.320 --> 00:53:04.760
Doesn't work that way, all right, That probably made me

821
00:53:04.800 --> 00:53:11.519
really popular, all right, that's okay, right, yeah, then AI

822
00:53:11.599 --> 00:53:13.760
gives me about a million questions to ask.

823
00:53:14.440 --> 00:53:18.559
Right. Then, here's the conclusion. Isaiah forty twenty five through

824
00:53:18.639 --> 00:53:21.519
thirty one calls us to reject self reliance, trust in

825
00:53:21.559 --> 00:53:25.559
God's wisdom, exchange our weakness for his strength. God's power

826
00:53:25.599 --> 00:53:28.360
is not only a cosmic but deeply personal, offering hope

827
00:53:28.360 --> 00:53:30.719
and endurance for all who trust in Him. If we

828
00:53:30.840 --> 00:53:33.400
understand that in the way which I have done so,

829
00:53:33.480 --> 00:53:36.360
AI guides me. But I'm going to challenge that a

830
00:53:36.400 --> 00:53:38.400
little bit. Now. If I would challenge AI on it,

831
00:53:38.400 --> 00:53:41.480
it would have to admit, well, doesn't work this way

832
00:53:41.840 --> 00:53:46.119
in a practical way. It works in a very philological way.

833
00:53:46.639 --> 00:53:50.400
It makes perfect sense, all right, Any questions about twenty

834
00:53:50.400 --> 00:53:56.639
five through thirty one, we just finished Isaiah forty. We

835
00:53:56.679 --> 00:54:00.679
did it. I had to rely on Ai, even though

836
00:54:00.679 --> 00:54:04.159
I took it to a different direction. So what can

837
00:54:04.199 --> 00:54:08.639
we learn Isaiah forty are words of comfort given to

838
00:54:08.679 --> 00:54:13.719
people in Babylonian captivity. They're not directed towards us. So

839
00:54:13.800 --> 00:54:18.679
any direct application goes to whom Judah. The applications we

840
00:54:18.679 --> 00:54:20.760
can pull to us, we have to do so in

841
00:54:20.840 --> 00:54:24.079
light of the text. Being careful, we don't insert ourself

842
00:54:24.239 --> 00:54:28.599
into it. What can apply to us is just as

843
00:54:28.639 --> 00:54:32.639
they needed comfort in their situation, we need comfort in ours.

844
00:54:33.159 --> 00:54:37.199
Their comfort was very practical, material physical, that they were

845
00:54:37.199 --> 00:54:41.320
going to be delivered from their material physical problem. We

846
00:54:41.639 --> 00:54:47.039
our hope is spiritual that God will do for us spiritually. Ultimately,

847
00:54:47.199 --> 00:54:49.239
Now they will be a material part. That's when we

848
00:54:49.280 --> 00:54:52.480
get into eternity. But we can't be guaranteed any specific

849
00:54:52.519 --> 00:54:55.800
thing in our everyday life other than what well Christ

850
00:54:55.840 --> 00:54:58.679
died for me. His righteousness is imputed to my account,

851
00:54:58.880 --> 00:55:02.960
My sins are forgiven. I'm guaranteed eternity. Nothing will separate

852
00:55:03.039 --> 00:55:05.199
me from the love of God. There will come a time,

853
00:55:05.239 --> 00:55:07.559
There'll be a new Heaven, new Earth, no more pain,

854
00:55:07.679 --> 00:55:09.719
no more suffering, and no more death. As long as

855
00:55:09.760 --> 00:55:13.119
I apply that that way, then we don't do what

856
00:55:13.400 --> 00:55:17.840
give people false promises. And Christianity has spent two thousand

857
00:55:17.880 --> 00:55:24.079
years given people false promises. And what happens to many

858
00:55:24.119 --> 00:55:26.679
people is when they're young and new to the faith,

859
00:55:27.039 --> 00:55:32.280
they're bold, brash, make all kinds of ridiculous things, like

860
00:55:32.320 --> 00:55:35.280
they know everything, even though they've only been really caring

861
00:55:35.280 --> 00:55:37.039
about their faith for about two years. You know what

862
00:55:37.079 --> 00:55:40.000
I'm saying. They say all kinds are ridiculous things. But

863
00:55:40.039 --> 00:55:42.920
guess what happens to many people You've gone to church

864
00:55:42.960 --> 00:55:44.159
with them.

865
00:55:46.159 --> 00:55:46.599
Because they.

866
00:55:52.440 --> 00:55:54.920
And they come to a couple of conclusions either Christianity

867
00:55:54.960 --> 00:56:01.840
is false or I'm just not saved. It's not working

868
00:56:01.840 --> 00:56:04.880
for me. And then everyone else will sit there going

869
00:56:05.000 --> 00:56:08.599
life and point their little fingers and talk all judgmental. Look,

870
00:56:08.599 --> 00:56:10.280
I don't know what's wrong with you. We'll just play

871
00:56:10.320 --> 00:56:14.440
your little and you just get sick of Christians. Sometimes

872
00:56:14.519 --> 00:56:17.639
the worst part of Christianity are Christians. If we could

873
00:56:17.679 --> 00:56:20.199
just have Christianity without us, it would be great, wouldn't it.

874
00:56:21.679 --> 00:56:24.960
We could just keep us out of it. But it's

875
00:56:25.079 --> 00:56:27.800
typically younger people who talk the trash and it's like

876
00:56:27.800 --> 00:56:30.400
you talk a big game, but sooner or later life

877
00:56:30.480 --> 00:56:32.480
punches you in the face. And then you're like, well,

878
00:56:32.480 --> 00:56:34.280
wait a minute, I was promised this, and I was

879
00:56:34.280 --> 00:56:36.920
promised this, and I was promising. Now you can start pretending.

880
00:56:38.159 --> 00:56:40.280
And a lot of Christians do a good job pretending

881
00:56:40.400 --> 00:56:43.000
the rest of their life. But when they but at

882
00:56:43.000 --> 00:56:44.480
some point you almost want to look at them, going,

883
00:56:44.519 --> 00:56:48.400
are you mentally ill? Because you are clearly describing something

884
00:56:48.440 --> 00:56:55.000
that doesn't actually exist in any tangible way. We can

885
00:56:55.039 --> 00:57:01.599
be realist acknowledge reality. We just have to underunderstand that

886
00:57:01.679 --> 00:57:04.360
the Bible works well in our reality if we understand

887
00:57:04.400 --> 00:57:10.679
the text correctly? All right, so can we can? Will

888
00:57:10.719 --> 00:57:14.360
God exchange our weakness for his power? Yes, if we

889
00:57:14.480 --> 00:57:17.480
understand it in the ways which I've outlined. Do we

890
00:57:17.519 --> 00:57:20.039
need to trust in God? Yes? Do we have to

891
00:57:20.079 --> 00:57:23.559
wait on God? Yes? Can we gain some sense of

892
00:57:23.599 --> 00:57:26.760
strength from that? And which way? Well that I know

893
00:57:26.880 --> 00:57:31.719
ultimately what it will end a certain way, I can

894
00:57:31.760 --> 00:57:34.880
be guaranteed of how it's going to end. What can

895
00:57:34.920 --> 00:57:37.920
I not find strength in on how it's going to

896
00:57:38.000 --> 00:57:41.880
work out? Here? And now I have no idea what's

897
00:57:41.920 --> 00:57:44.119
going to happen to you? And by the time this

898
00:57:44.199 --> 00:57:46.480
month is over, have no idea what's going to happen

899
00:57:46.519 --> 00:57:48.440
to you in March. Have no idea what's going to

900
00:57:48.480 --> 00:57:51.519
happen to you in twenty twenty five. There will be tragedy,

901
00:57:51.559 --> 00:57:53.440
there will be pain, there will be good, There will

902
00:57:53.480 --> 00:57:56.519
be for some people, it will be better than others

903
00:57:58.159 --> 00:58:02.800
others it will get worse, and there's no hope of

904
00:58:02.840 --> 00:58:05.599
it getting better. I can't promise you. It can't if

905
00:58:05.599 --> 00:58:07.639
I point to you to God's gonna make it better.

906
00:58:07.760 --> 00:58:10.760
I'm a liar, I do. I'm hurting you. I'm not

907
00:58:10.840 --> 00:58:16.719
helping you. But I can say new Heaven, new Earth,

908
00:58:17.000 --> 00:58:18.840
no more pain, no more suffering, no more death, and

909
00:58:18.880 --> 00:58:22.760
we can all say amen to that. All right, Lord God,

910
00:58:22.800 --> 00:58:25.679
we come before you this afternoon. Forgive us for the

911
00:58:25.679 --> 00:58:30.320
ways we've misinterpreted your past, your scripture. Forgive us, Lord,

912
00:58:30.400 --> 00:58:35.199
help us understand this correctly. Lord, we fell so deeply

913
00:58:35.239 --> 00:58:38.400
in this section of scripture. We've messed up so many times.

914
00:58:38.440 --> 00:58:42.519
Just forgive us. May we read this differently. May we

915
00:58:42.639 --> 00:58:45.440
consider all the points that have been given, and may

916
00:58:45.480 --> 00:58:47.760
it have some practical implication on our lives, and we

917
00:58:47.800 --> 00:58:51.679
asked this in Jesus name, and God's people said, thank

918
00:58:51.719 --> 00:58:52.400
you very much.