March 9, 2025

Isaiah 41:8-13

Isaiah 41:8-13

We continue our study of Isaiah 40-55 by looking at Isaiah 41:8-13

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We continue our study of Isaiah 40-55 by looking at Isaiah 41:8-13

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All right, second hour, same chapter, Isaiah chapter forty one,

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Isaiah chapter forty one. In the first hour, well, last

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week we did an observational outline of all of Isaiah

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forty one, so we covered that that observational outline really

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taught the entire chapter. So we're kind of just walking

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kind of back through the observational outline to a certain level.

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This chapter is really not that complicated or difficult to understand.

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As I stated in the first hour, I'll stated again

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here because it's kind of a theme that I'm emphasizing today,

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is that, whether we like it or not, church history

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demonstrates this modern church, which demonstrates this. We do not

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study the Bible. We do not study church history because

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we are pursuing truth. We study it and pursue things

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for our own agenda. We have our own prejudices, we

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have our own so many issues because it should not

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be that complicated. Out of over now, I don't even

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know how many over one hundred sermons that I've listened

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to I'm dealing with Isaiah afforded Isaiah fifty five. I

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yet to find one that's handled this section and even

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where close to the text at all. They make it

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about us. They do all these hermeneutical things. This week,

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I've been studying the doing podcast episodes about the Salem

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witch Trials. I mentioned it in the first art. I'm

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not going to go through details again, and how Reverend

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Burroughs was executed in Salem and it was all messed

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up the way that went down in Cotton Mathers involvement.

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And Christians today will defend Cotton Mather. Cotton Mathers the hero.

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Cotton Mathers here, there's no hero in Cotton Mather's the villain.

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But we study church history why because we got to

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defend the people who are on our team instead of

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studying history to find truth. Truth is no longer what

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anybody wants in any area of our any area of

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American society. We don't want truth in politics, we don't

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want truth in theology, we don't want truth in church.

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Nobody wants truth. Everybody wants what to be for what

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they want to hear. And if they don't like what

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they don't hear, well, if it's in the culture, then

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it's fake news simply because it disagrees with them. That's

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not the way that works, or it's false doctrine or

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I don't like it because well I don't like it,

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and that's not the way it's supposed to work. If

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you study truth, inevitably truth will do what slap you

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in the face. If you pursue truth, truth is not

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always going to agree with us. Theologically, it makes sense

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since we our heart is desperately wicked and above all things. Okay, well,

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if we believe that to be accurate, well then we

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should be expecting then truth will be constantly who will

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be constantly in conflict with truth? Us? We think we

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find truth so that I can prove you wrong. Truth

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is designed to prove I'm wrong. Okay, So if we

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really are going to study Isaiah forty one and be fair,

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then we know Isaiah forty one just like Isaiah forty

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and the entire section is not about us. It's not

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about the church, it's not about America, it's not about Christianity.

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It's about Judah and Babylonian captivity. And we have to

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understand it that way. And if we try to make

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it about us, then we don't care about the truth

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of the text. We care about producing sermons so that

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we can have big churches to make money, and that's

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what it turns into. Well, if we pursue truth, well

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people don't necessarily want that. That's just the reality. So

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we covered verses one through seven in the first hour.

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Basically verses one through seven. For those who aren't here,

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it's pretty simple. It's a court case. God summons everyone

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to come to court and he's going to prove to

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them that he's in charge rather than human rulers or idols.

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That's the simple way of describing it. So then this hour,

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our goal is to make it from verses eight too.

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If you remember the observational outline thirteen, eight through thirteen,

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we know if you look at the text, we struggled

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on whether we should break it up. Remember we had

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that big discussion. Should we stop it with verse thirteen?

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Should we continue it? Remember? Remember, well hopefully you remember that.

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All right, So our study is we're going to do

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an in depth exegetical study of Isaiah forty one, eight

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through thirteen. All right, now, let's just read it. Let's

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read verses eight through thirteen. But thou Israel, now I

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cannot stress this enough. Every time in Isaiah forty through

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fifty five, every time through Isaiah forty through fifty five.

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Any reference to Israel needs to be just like you

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need to highlight it, market circle it, start it. I

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don't know everything you need to do. And why do

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we have to do that? Because all the sermons make

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it about everyone other than the people the text identifies,

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and so we have another identifying element of who's being

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spoken of. Right, But thou Israel art, my servant, Jacob,

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whom I have chosen the seed of Abraham, my friend.

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Everybody see that? Everybody got that? All right? All right,

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Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the

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earth and called THEE from the chief men thereof, and said,

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unto thee, Thou art, my servant, I have chosen THEE

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and not cast THEE away. Fear thou not. Now, everyone

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focus on that phrase, fear thou not. Fear the thy

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not are filled. Fear thou not? All right, everybody see that?

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Focus on that. Why do I want you to focus

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on fear thou not. Well, if we are in any

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other church, you would be focusing fear thou not, because

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the time of my sermon on this section would be

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called fear thou not, and it would be a sermon

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about you, not fearing. There's nothing to do with you,

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all right, fear thou not? Who is being told not

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to fear Israel? Does it require seminary to figure that out?

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Do it require Bible College to figure that out? Sarah's

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a teacher? About what grade should someone be able to

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read that and determine who's being told not to fear?

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About what grade? Should that occur? In third grade? So

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we need basically third grade reading comprehension. You could get

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Lincoln to do it, now, it's any link if Lincoln

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can do it in third grade? Right, If Lincoln can

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do it in third grade, why can't preachers do it?

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Why can't people sitting in the pew figure that out? Yeah?

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I guess, but in many cases, Oh yeah, I know.

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But I'm just saying all of that is just nonsense,

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Like anybody sitting there should be like then, I mean,

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I if basing on third grade reading comprehension and then

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you go to church, you should probably raise your hand,

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probably within about thirty minutes of being a Christian and

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go are Christians just incapable of reading? Because I don't

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know what's wrong here? Because something should immediately tell you you're

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in We're not in Kansas anymore. Right, It's like the

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house got picked up by the tornado and you got

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dropped in the Wizard of Oz and the Land of Oz,

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and you're like, where what happened here? Because reading no

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longer works the way reading does in the classroom, and

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it's that is so mess up. In fact, the sermon

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that I listened to church today on the way here

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was called fear Thou or not Now for some weird reason,

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it was on Isaiah forty one, and then they spent

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most of the time in Exodus. But then they made

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day Exodus about and so then I just wanted to

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drive my car off the road, you know, into a tree,

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because this will that there's no trees around here. But okay,

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drive my car off and hit a cow, okay something.

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But because there's it's so like, why is that so complicated?

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It's not that it's not complicated. It's like when we

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read in Romans, all Israel will be saved? Is that complicated?

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But no, no, no, no, no, I mean I've preached

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it in this church, all Israel will be saved. And

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then have someone come right to this pulpit five seconds

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after the sermon saying Israel is it Israel? And I'm like,

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what in the world when did Israel not become Israel?

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Can anybody show me when that occurred? And what's even

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made that more frustrating is I preached that sermon after

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we spent what three months, four months looking up every

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use of the word Israel, and the best we could

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come up is maybe one maybe that wasn't referring to

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the nation of Israel. And it's like, after all of that,

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then Israel doesn't mean. At that point, you just have

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to start questioning if we can't read the Bible, then

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then we could basically then call into question what why

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does church even exist? Right? Like? Where do I want

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to go to church? Or do I want an atheist

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who can read? I almost prefer the atheist who can read.

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I'd rather go to the Satanic Temple that that knows

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reading comprehension, then Christians who can't seem to figure out

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what the text may But almost every sermon you look

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up in this section is going to be about you

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come to church and you're going to be taught about

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not fearing. That's not what it's fear thou not for

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I am with who's the THEE. They're literally identified right,

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be not dismayed, For I am thy God, who is

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the thy Israel. Okay, I will strengthen THEE who is

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the thee Israel. Jay, I will help THEE who is

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the It's gonna get redundant, is it not. You're gonna

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get irritated after along, go move on. I will uphold

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THEE with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, they

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that were incensed against THEE shall be ashamed and confounded.

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They shall be as nothing, And they that strive with

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THEE shall perish. Thou shalt seek them and not find

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find them, even them that contendeth with THEE, that thy

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war against THEE shall be as nothing, as a thing

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of not. Really, what churches need to do, and I'll

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just throw this in for what what churches need to

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do all of their children's departments, like from nursery all

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the way up to say maybe their sixth grade. All

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it should be is reading comprehension. Reading comprehens It's all

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all you should do in Sunday school is reading comprehension.

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And then you need to tell the kids, now you're

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gonna go listen to that pastor preach and he doesn't

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know how to read. Now you say it, that's mean, Well,

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it's all those adults out there can't read. So maybe

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the next generation need to be taught how to read

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so that then when they take over the pew they

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can kick out all the old people and say, well,

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since none of you know how to read that, I'm

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gonna because back in the old days when school taught

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us how to read, well, obviously not because clearly there's

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a reading comprehension problem. I will say, we don't have

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a theology problem. I think we have a reading comprehension problem.

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Remember when we were studying Augustine on Hermeneutics, where did

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he say hermautics begin our basic learning to read and

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write in school. That's where it comes from. That's where

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it comes from. It's just it's magnet. It's so frustrating

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to have to spend this much time trying to assert this,

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but after listening to over one hundred sermons, I know

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I have to assert this. So we have to learn

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to read everyone, So there's no difficulty there, right, If

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you don't even understand verse eight through thirteen, what is

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the one thing a third grader should be able to

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understand about verses eight through thirteen. It's about its right.

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If you don't understand anything else, you could understand that, right.

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So do we have at least have that down. I

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think we should have that down, all right. So there

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is the text, okay, So let's look at the context

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and structure. Here we go. Context and structure will break

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this down just like we did and we've been doing

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in all these We're going to look at the immediate context,

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and then we'll do a structural breakdown of the verses themselves,

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all right. Immediate context verses one through seven, it's God's

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sovereignty over history and the nations. Isaiah forty one. I'm sorry,

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Isaiah forty one, one through seven, God's sovereignarante over history

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in the nations. That's the immediate context. One through seven

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is God's sovereign and over history and all the nations

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Isaiah forty one. Eight through thirteen obviously focuses on God's

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relationship with whom Israel, because in forty one one you

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have what the coastlands or the islands, everybody see forty

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one one the coast and then all of a sudden,

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what immediately happens in verse eight Israel. All right, you

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see that, that's not difficult. Correct, Now, what happens in

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verses fourteen through twenty? What happens in verses fourteen through twenty? Okay? Yeah,

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Israel basically is now viewed as a powerful instrument. Is

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that a fair way of describing that? Now? How do

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we know fourteen through twenty is speaking of Israel being

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to do these things? Okay? Well I know that, but

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I have to add ify that because once again preachers

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turn that into something other than us. Okay, I have

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at the end of this, I have fifteen fifteen different

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ways this section is hermeneutically misunderstood and misapplied. Like why

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should there be fifteen different ways that can occur? Why

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there's nothing here to I know, and no one nobody does,

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And it's just crazy context. Yeah, and even those who

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say we do exegetical preaching will still make it about us,

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make it about us. That's not exegetical preaching. All right,

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So the immediate context forty one one through seven is

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the immediate context, agreed, that's God's sovereignty over history in

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the nations. Then eight through thirteen, our section obviously deals

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with God's special relation with Israel, and then what follows,

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which will be immediate context. It's God's transformation of Israel

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into a powerful instrument. The immediate context the before the

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section we're studying, and the section after that deals with

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the immediate context. Everybody okay with that? Right now? The

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structural breakdown verses eight through nine. Everyone, look at Isaiah

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forty one, eight through nine. What would you take from

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Isaiah forty one, eight through nine. If we're doing a

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structural breakdown, what would you call that section forty one

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eight through nine? Forty one eight through nine. I think

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this is Israel's identity, is God's chosen servant. Whatever may

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be okay with that? Is it identifying Israel as God's servant?

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I think it literally says that, does it not? Now?

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Why is that important? Because another servant's being spoken of

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in this section or kind of get leading up to it.

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It's gonna Cyrus is also God's servant, right? And then

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we have the suffering servant in fifty three right, correct,

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which many believe is Christ. So whenever our servant is mentioned,

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then what do we have to learn to do in

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this entire section? Identify which servant? Right? That's an hermeneutical clue. Right,

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servant is mentioned multiple times in this section, so are

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in Isaiah forty through fifty five? We always have to

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identify it here? Is there any doubt which servant's being

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spoken of in Isaiah forty one eight through nine? Which

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verse which give me the verse in the statement, Hey,

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what does it say? Israel? Alrm I sir? Okay, right,

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there's no question. All right, there's no question. Everybody see that? Okay?

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All right, yeah, yeah, it's multiple times. All right, now

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that eight and nine Israel's identity is God's servant. How

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about verse ten? We have the call to fear not.

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Some would say that there's a threefold promise with that

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fear not. Do you believe there's a threefold promise there? Okay?

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Do you see the threefold Diane just found three well,

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and just in verse ten itself, verse ten, there's a

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threefold promise. Does everybody see a threefold promise? In ten?

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I'm seeing cow nong fingers, use a calculator, whatever, use

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a friend, it's math. I feel comfortable with threefold promise there?

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All right, So fear not, But again the fear not

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and the threefold promise is to whom Israel? And it's

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based off what what is the foundational principle throughout all

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your entire understanding of the Old Testament when it comes

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to promise and praying? Who they are and the covenant

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God made with them? Remember, everything is fun functioning off

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that covenant. Right? What are the three threefold promise in

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verse ten? Well, fear not, okay, I am with thee?

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Has God promised to be with Israel basically going all

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the way to the time of Abram? Okay? Right? Next?

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Does he not promise to strengthen Israel over and over

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and over and over and over in covenant language? Yes?

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Does he not promise to uphold Israel? I mean yes?

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So all of that is is very at least covenant

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like language. And if it's covenant like language, then we know, okay,

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all right, that we understand the basis of it. Right?

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Everybody got that? Oh? Yes? Right? Then? How about verses

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eleven through twelve. What do we get from verses eleven

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through twelve God's victory over Israel's enemies? Do you think

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that that's a fair way of looking at eleven through twelve?

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Everybody okay with that? Right? How about verse thirteen? Well,

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is kind. We'll just say, a personal assurance of divine help. Right,

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personal assurance of divine help. I think that's pretty simple.

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So what is the structural breakdown of Isaiah forty one

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eight through thirteen? Eight through nine. Israel's identity is God's

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chosen servant. Everybody, okay? With that number two? Verse ten,

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the call to fear not and the threefold of promise

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verse eleven through twelve, God's victory over Israel's enemies verse thirteen,

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A personal assurance of divine help. There's the structural breakdown.

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Right now, we go to the exegetical analysis. We're just

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going to work through this section. You've already have it

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broken down for you, right, Okay, So the first section

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is Israel's identity is God's chosen servant. I'm gonna read

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from the ESV. But you Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom

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I have chosen, the offspring of Abram, of Abraham, my friend, you,

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whom I took from the ends of the earth and

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called from its farthest corners, saying to you, you are

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my servant. I have chosen you and not cast you off.

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Will break this down into well a number of parts.

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A number of parts. First, the contrast with the nations. Right,

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the first thing we're gonna see is the contrast from

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the nations. But you Israel. Everybody see that, but you Israel?

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Is that not really how the section starts, depending on

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your translation the NIV. But you Israel? All right, I'm sorry,

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that's the ESV. How does the NIV start verse eight?

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But you Israel? The king James, okay, all right, ready

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to get that. So when you see that, that shifts

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focus from the fearful, idolatrous nations that five through seven

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ended with the nations are scared. Now they're building idols

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or may receive that. And now it changes, But which

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does what basically negates everything that comes forth? Where it's

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a major shift, it's a major transition. Right now we're transitioning.

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But you Israel, and contrast to them, they're scared to death,

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but you Israel. What does he wants them to know?

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He's gonna but now it's gonna go from the fearful,

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idolar trist nations to God's chosen people. While the nations

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rely on false God, Israel belongs to Yahweh. That's how

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it starts, right, I can find it but thou Israel,

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art my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen the seat

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of Abraham, my friend. As a direct contrast the previous section,

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the nations are scared to death, they're trying to build idols.

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But you Israel, Israel, Israel. You don't need to worry

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because you belong to me. Everybody see that. So we

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have the contrast with the nations. That's the first thing

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we see in this section. The significance of my servant Israel.

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My servant a title of covenantal relationship. It is a

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title of covenantal relationship. Everybody got that. It is a

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title of covenantal relationship. In Uh. A servant in Isaiah

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refers to different figures, as we've already kind of alluded to, right,

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A servant can refer to as Israel, as God's servant,

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a suffering servant, and I think it can also reference

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whom Cyrus. I think it can also reference Cyrus. Right.

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So there, whenever is so the main thing we need

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to learn from this Whenever we see servant in Isaiah,

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what do we have to do? We have to the

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significance of servant in this section is it tells us

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that Whenever we see the word servant, it usually well,

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in this particular case, it deals with their covenantal relationship,

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but it also identifies to us that we have to

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stop and identify who the servant is being spoken of.

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That's a basic pharmonutical rule there, all right, everybody got that?

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So we see we're looking at the Isaiah forty one

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eight through nine, Israel's identity as God's chosen servant. We've

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broken this down into the contrast with the nations, the

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significance of my servant and the number three Jacob, whom

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I have chosen. This highlights Israel's frailty and dependence on God,

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whom I have chosen, reinforces divine election. Israel's not chosen

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because of their greatness, but because of God's grace. Right Jacob,

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whom I have chosen. The idea is that by referring

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to Jacob, it's referring to their frailty. That's the concept

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that they say that they're taking from all right, because

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Jacob later on in this section and that this section,

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Jacob's referenced as what a worm? Right? What versus that? Fourteen? Okay,

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what's the next section? It's the next section. Yeah, next section,

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he's referred to as a worm. So me, now, if

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we take that Jacob's been seen as weak, frail, what

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do we typically think about Jacob? Do we? Okay, a

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liar deceiver? He wrestled with the angel and then he

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basically was hip thrown out a place, right, so he's

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he's not seeing it. Whenever we talk about Jacob and Esau,

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we typically we walk away saying Esau is the good

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guy and Jacob is trash, right right? Yeah, so the

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idea what a so and the AI is the one

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who identified it that way that Jacob highlights Israel's frailty

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independence on God right, whom I have chosen. Basically, they

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were not chosen because they were great. They were not

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chosen because they were powerful. They were chosen because of

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God's grace. I don't know if this crush reference will

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help us. Look at Deuteronomy seven and you can tell

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me what you find. Deuteronomy seven seven through eight. Deuteronomy

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seven seven through eight. I don't want to make any

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assumptions here. Deuteronomy seven seven through eight. Deuteronomy seven seven

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through eight, what do we find there? Deuteronomy seven seven

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to eight. That's Israel. I mean, I don't know, if

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there's any it's got to be Israel, right, Okay, yeah, okay, clearly?

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All right? So that's in what verse eight? Oh? Yeah?

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So dude, Verse eight identifies who it's referenced. He did

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not choose them because they were the greatest number. He

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didn't choose them because of anything. He chose them out

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of grace, out of grace, And that means he didn't

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choose them because they were more holy or because they

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were more righteous. In fact, and inevitably they were wide

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not more godly or more righteous. He chose Jacob. Was

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Jacob more righteous? No? Okay? Over and over and over.

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That's the key here, right, So Jacob whom I've chosen,

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This is just demonstrating the Israel's frailty in God's divine grace.

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All right? Does that make sense? All right? So we're

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breaking this section down. We've got the contrast with the nations,

402
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the significant of my servant, Jacob, whom I've chosen. And

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then what's next in this the offspring of seed of Abraham,

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the offspring of Abraham. And then he refers to Abraham

405
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as my friend. This links Israel to Abraham. Emphasizing God's

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covenant to faithfulness and the promise of blessing and protection.

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My friend Abraham had a unique relationship with God. What

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I want to what is its demonstrating Israel, you were mine,

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not because you did anything, but because I did anything,

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and based off a covenant that I made with my friend,

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going all the way back to Abraham. Everything is based

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off the covenant. The covenant, the covenant, the covenant, and

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that covenant was made with Israel. I know, we want

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to insert ourselves into it, okay, but it's about Israel.

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Everybody understand that, all right. So I think that the

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main thing is this is reassuring them. At the previous section,

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the nations are scared to death. They're building idols. He's like, guys,

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calm down, I'm right here, right, everybody got That's that's

419
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verses eight through nine. We broke that down pretty good, right.

420
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Israel's identity is God's chosen. We broke it down in

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the contrast with the nations. The significance of servant Jacob,

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whom I've chosen, and Abraham or the offspring of Abraham.

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Now verse ten, this is the call to fear not

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in the threefold promise, fear not, for I am with you.

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Be not dismayed, For I am your God. I will

426
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strengthen you, I will help you, I will hold you

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with my righteous right hand. The call to fear not

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a common divine command. Now you hear everyone say that

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there is a fear not for every day of the year.

430
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That is not true. Okay, that is a that is

431
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not if you even counted out it doesn't Ai. The

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best Ai gives me is that a common divine command

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fear not appears over one hundred times in the Bible.

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Well over one hundred times. Is a way far from

435
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every day of the year, is it not? And not

436
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only that, even if you were able to fight a

437
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fear not for every day of the year, most of

438
00:29:13.960 --> 00:29:20.200
those fear nots have what nothing to do with you. Yeah,

439
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specific context and the fact this fear not here has

440
00:29:23.000 --> 00:29:26.160
nothing to do with us some In fact, I've already

441
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tried to drive that point home. All right, Okay, So

442
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what is the anidote for fear for Israel in this

443
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particular section fear not for I'm with you? What is

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the antidote to their fear God's presence? God's presence is

445
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supposed to be the anidote to their fear. All right,

446
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God's presence is the anidote to their fear. Now that

447
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sounds that preacher is good. Right, So I could have

448
00:29:56.720 --> 00:30:00.000
said that in a preacher voice, what is the anidote

449
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to your fear this morning, ladies and gentlemen, My dearly

450
00:30:03.839 --> 00:30:08.680
beloved God's presence is the antidote to your fear? And

451
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you would write that down and going ooh, that's a good,

452
00:30:11.160 --> 00:30:15.799
good message. Let's make it very clear God's presence is

453
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the antidote to their fear. But God's presence doesn't always

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help us. Right, Let's make it very clear. Was God

455
00:30:25.279 --> 00:30:33.200
present with job? Was God? Did god presence stop what happened? No?

456
00:30:34.759 --> 00:30:37.559
God has been with Israel. Has it stopped all the

457
00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:41.920
things that's happened to them? No? All right, so let's

458
00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:46.680
make it very clear. God's presence with us is not

459
00:30:46.920 --> 00:30:54.640
the anecdote to bad things happening to us. God's presence

460
00:30:54.839 --> 00:30:57.720
with us is supposed to be an antidote to fear,

461
00:30:58.160 --> 00:31:04.400
only in so much that at some point there will

462
00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:09.440
be a we'll say, a resolution to the problem. But

463
00:31:09.720 --> 00:31:12.920
for Israel or Judah, it was going to take them

464
00:31:13.240 --> 00:31:16.839
seventy years, right, and for us it takes when we

465
00:31:17.000 --> 00:31:21.599
enter into eternity. So God's presence as an antidote to

466
00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:24.519
fear only letting me know that God is the one

467
00:31:24.559 --> 00:31:26.720
and charge of it. But it does not mean that

468
00:31:26.799 --> 00:31:29.279
I shouldn't fear bad things are going to happen, because

469
00:31:29.359 --> 00:31:32.119
bad things can happen. Does everyone understand how we should

470
00:31:32.119 --> 00:31:36.240
process that? Because Christians, man, we do weird things with

471
00:31:36.279 --> 00:31:40.519
this concept. Right? Then it says, so the call to

472
00:31:40.559 --> 00:31:42.359
fear not everybody see the call to fear not in

473
00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:46.279
verse ten, pretty simple, be not dismayed, for I am

474
00:31:46.319 --> 00:31:50.759
your God. Dismayed means to look around anxiously. Israel is

475
00:31:50.759 --> 00:31:56.119
called to fix their eyes on God, not their circumstances. Hey,

476
00:31:56.119 --> 00:32:00.720
don't be dismayed, because the previous section has the nations

477
00:32:00.759 --> 00:32:06.880
doing what being dismayed? What do they look to? Idols? Israel,

478
00:32:07.160 --> 00:32:12.599
don't be dismayed. I'm right here. Look to me now,

479
00:32:12.799 --> 00:32:17.519
remember looking to God. Remember that faith is the we

480
00:32:17.599 --> 00:32:19.759
talked about it, we talked at about a million times.

481
00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:22.279
Faith is that thing where we look to a God

482
00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:26.119
in whom we cannot see while we are surrounded and

483
00:32:26.200 --> 00:32:30.279
being impacted by circumstances. Which we very much can see.

484
00:32:30.440 --> 00:32:33.799
Those circumstances which we can see, they scream at us,

485
00:32:33.880 --> 00:32:39.000
what God doesn't exist. So we have to believe by

486
00:32:39.079 --> 00:32:42.880
faith a God in whom we cannot see exists and

487
00:32:43.000 --> 00:32:47.359
will ultimately give us all those promises of eternity. But

488
00:32:47.440 --> 00:32:49.759
in the here and now, the God whom we believe

489
00:32:49.799 --> 00:32:53.759
in may not intervene to make one thing better. In fact,

490
00:32:53.839 --> 00:32:58.240
things may actually get worse. That is a hard concept

491
00:32:58.240 --> 00:33:01.079
to wrap your mind around, Fiel logic. Because you become

492
00:33:01.079 --> 00:33:03.279
a Christian, you're almost giving this idea, Well, now you

493
00:33:03.359 --> 00:33:06.960
have God, everything's gonna work out, or God's gonna intervene.

494
00:33:06.960 --> 00:33:09.559
God's gonna fix it. Christians will constantly tell you that

495
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:12.640
you go through a problem, God's gonna fix it, God's

496
00:33:12.680 --> 00:33:15.319
gonna make it better. I want to punch him in

497
00:33:15.359 --> 00:33:17.359
the face and go, well, did God make that better?

498
00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:23.240
That's what I want to do, Just break their nose

499
00:33:23.279 --> 00:33:27.759
and say, hey, did God fix that? No? Okay, because

500
00:33:27.799 --> 00:33:30.000
it doesn't work that way. We want it to work

501
00:33:30.039 --> 00:33:33.680
that way. Now. The only thing I can be assured

502
00:33:33.680 --> 00:33:35.519
of is that there will come a time the skies

503
00:33:35.559 --> 00:33:38.279
will part, Christ will come back, destroy all the enemies

504
00:33:38.440 --> 00:33:42.240
set up a kingdom after a thousand years, release Satan.

505
00:33:42.519 --> 00:33:44.599
Bam boom. Then you have a new earth. No more pain,

506
00:33:44.640 --> 00:33:47.200
no more suffering, no more death in eternity. Now, I

507
00:33:47.279 --> 00:33:49.079
know that's not what we want to hear, because I

508
00:33:49.119 --> 00:33:54.480
want that to somehow impact. Now, well, the only impacts

509
00:33:54.480 --> 00:33:56.880
by giving me a hope that this is not the end.

510
00:33:57.799 --> 00:33:59.799
But it does not mean that God's going to intervene

511
00:33:59.839 --> 00:34:02.279
in any way, shape or form, all right, But it

512
00:34:02.319 --> 00:34:05.119
means don't we don't look around anxiously. We look to

513
00:34:05.279 --> 00:34:08.199
where where things are going, all right. So there is

514
00:34:08.239 --> 00:34:12.480
the call to fear, not be, not dismayed the threefold promise.

515
00:34:12.599 --> 00:34:14.880
AI breaks down the threefold promise this way, I will

516
00:34:14.920 --> 00:34:20.400
strengthen you, I will help you, and I will uphold you.

517
00:34:21.119 --> 00:34:24.760
All right, provide inner strength to endure trials. Now, this

518
00:34:24.840 --> 00:34:27.199
is what God is going to do for them, right,

519
00:34:27.239 --> 00:34:29.480
not for us. I will help you. God is actively

520
00:34:29.480 --> 00:34:31.639
involved in their deliverance. God is going to help them

521
00:34:31.639 --> 00:34:37.199
in a what kind of way, physical, tangible, material way? Right,

522
00:34:37.519 --> 00:34:40.119
I will uphold you with my righteous hand. Right hand

523
00:34:40.119 --> 00:34:44.360
symbolizes power and authority. Righteous implies God is just and faithful.

524
00:34:46.360 --> 00:34:50.599
So for Israel, God's presence guarantees protection, strength, and help,

525
00:34:51.159 --> 00:34:54.599
so therefore fear is unnecessary. But just remember I don't

526
00:34:54.639 --> 00:34:57.840
even like that God's presence does guarantee that God is

527
00:34:57.840 --> 00:34:59.960
going to do something for them, but it doesn't mean

528
00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:02.119
and He's going to do something for them in every situation,

529
00:35:02.440 --> 00:35:04.880
because in some situations they still suffer, do they not?

530
00:35:05.159 --> 00:35:08.360
And the answer is yes. So it's kind of a

531
00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:12.199
complicated thing to understand there. All right, next section is

532
00:35:12.239 --> 00:35:17.360
Isaiah four. So that section was ten was verse ten.

533
00:35:17.800 --> 00:35:20.039
It's the call to fear not be not dismayed in

534
00:35:20.079 --> 00:35:22.199
the threefold divine promise. I know I went through the

535
00:35:22.239 --> 00:35:24.719
divine promise relatively quick, but we've already looked at that.

536
00:35:25.119 --> 00:35:28.599
Now what will most pastors do here? Try to take

537
00:35:28.639 --> 00:35:31.559
that divine those threefold promises and apply them to who

538
00:35:32.719 --> 00:35:37.440
to us. And that's where it almost inevitably becomes problematic.

539
00:35:39.159 --> 00:35:42.519
Right now, do we have similar promises? But they point

540
00:35:42.599 --> 00:35:47.079
us to eternity and to our salvation, not to material

541
00:35:47.440 --> 00:35:51.360
physical protection and deliverance and strength. I know every pastor

542
00:35:51.400 --> 00:35:53.079
wants to say that if you believe in God, you

543
00:35:53.119 --> 00:35:55.119
get strength. If you believe in God, you get strength.

544
00:35:55.119 --> 00:35:57.239
If you believe in God, you get strength. There was

545
00:35:57.400 --> 00:36:01.920
no tangible way to There is no evidence to prove that.

546
00:36:02.320 --> 00:36:07.760
Are Christians stronger than lost people. No, we're not stronger

547
00:36:07.800 --> 00:36:09.840
than lost people. We may want to believe we are,

548
00:36:09.880 --> 00:36:17.920
but where we sin, we fail. Christians need, Christians have need, counseling, therapy, medication.

549
00:36:18.360 --> 00:36:22.360
We have all the same problem. Christian marriages fall apart, This,

550
00:36:22.639 --> 00:36:26.719
churches fall apart, This happens, this happens. We're not better

551
00:36:26.760 --> 00:36:29.239
than anybody. We like to believe it all the time.

552
00:36:29.400 --> 00:36:33.239
There have been people of other religions who've endured horrible

553
00:36:33.360 --> 00:36:37.719
trials and come through it stronger, better, just like Christians.

554
00:36:37.840 --> 00:36:39.719
Christians will say the reason we do is because we

555
00:36:39.760 --> 00:36:42.239
have God, But an atheist goes through things and can

556
00:36:42.280 --> 00:36:45.199
do it. That. We love to try to imply we

557
00:36:45.239 --> 00:36:48.719
get some kind of supernatural power. If we had supernatural power,

558
00:36:48.920 --> 00:36:51.280
it would be able to be measured in some way,

559
00:36:51.360 --> 00:36:55.159
shape or form, and whatever we try to say that's

560
00:36:55.239 --> 00:36:58.079
measured in I can find other people who don't have

561
00:36:58.119 --> 00:37:04.559
my faith who've endured similar or worse things and probably

562
00:37:04.599 --> 00:37:08.519
handle them better than me. Look, I knew, I knew

563
00:37:08.639 --> 00:37:11.840
plenty of people who went through far worse things than

564
00:37:11.880 --> 00:37:14.599
I went through as a kid, but I ended up

565
00:37:14.639 --> 00:37:16.480
kneeling on the floor with a gun to my head

566
00:37:16.480 --> 00:37:18.559
and got ready to kill myself. Well guess what people

567
00:37:18.599 --> 00:37:21.280
will tell me, Well, no Christian will do that, because

568
00:37:21.280 --> 00:37:23.679
a Christian will never do that. I'm so sick and

569
00:37:23.719 --> 00:37:25.920
tired of telling me what Christians will or will not do,

570
00:37:26.039 --> 00:37:28.079
because I've got two thousand years of church history seeing

571
00:37:28.159 --> 00:37:30.119
Christians have been guilty of doing pretty much anything and

572
00:37:30.159 --> 00:37:33.960
everything because we are just like everyone else. What are we?

573
00:37:34.400 --> 00:37:43.519
Flesh bone sinners? All right? So, but in their particular case,

574
00:37:43.559 --> 00:37:48.880
specific strength, specific indoor, specific things for their specific situation.

575
00:37:49.239 --> 00:37:52.639
All of this is a reference to what their captivity

576
00:37:53.079 --> 00:37:58.679
and their deliverance. That's what this is referencing. But people

577
00:37:58.719 --> 00:38:02.559
will ride a devotional that on Monday. Oh, my devotional

578
00:38:02.639 --> 00:38:05.239
was in Isaiah forty one. God's gonna do these things

579
00:38:05.239 --> 00:38:07.880
for me. You just want to like that has nothing

580
00:38:07.920 --> 00:38:12.559
to do with you. Nothing. Everybody got that? All right? Now?

581
00:38:12.719 --> 00:38:16.880
The next section is eleven through twelve, God's victory over

582
00:38:17.000 --> 00:38:21.280
Israel's enemies. All right, we'll read the section I'm gonna

583
00:38:21.320 --> 00:38:24.159
read from the ESV again. Behold, all who are incensed

584
00:38:24.159 --> 00:38:27.239
against you shall be put to shame and confounded. Those

585
00:38:27.239 --> 00:38:30.079
who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish.

586
00:38:30.519 --> 00:38:32.960
You shall seek those who contend with you, but you

587
00:38:33.000 --> 00:38:36.079
shall not find them. Those who war against you you

588
00:38:36.159 --> 00:38:39.880
shall be, shall be as nothing at all. All right,

589
00:38:40.199 --> 00:38:43.480
So we're gonna break this into two sections. The fate

590
00:38:43.559 --> 00:38:48.440
of Israel's enemies and sensed against you. Those hostile to

591
00:38:48.599 --> 00:38:53.760
Israel will be shamed everybody. See that, those incensed against

592
00:38:53.760 --> 00:38:56.519
you shall be put to shame. Everybody. See that pretty simple,

593
00:38:56.519 --> 00:38:59.280
pretty straightforward. You don't really need much help on that,

594
00:38:59.360 --> 00:39:02.360
do you. All Right? What does he say after they're

595
00:39:02.360 --> 00:39:05.599
gonna be they're gonna be confounded, right, and then those

596
00:39:05.679 --> 00:39:08.960
who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish.

597
00:39:09.320 --> 00:39:13.559
See that God will remove them from history. Those who

598
00:39:13.559 --> 00:39:15.920
are coming against Israel going to be removed from history.

599
00:39:16.159 --> 00:39:20.239
And while that ultimately happened right where the Babylonians today,

600
00:39:22.119 --> 00:39:27.360
right God God? And then you could even say the Persians,

601
00:39:27.400 --> 00:39:29.039
I mean, I mean, I guess that's kind of modern

602
00:39:29.119 --> 00:39:31.960
day Iran, right, but but I mean for those kingdoms

603
00:39:32.000 --> 00:39:34.400
are pretty much gone right as we know, as we

604
00:39:34.480 --> 00:39:38.320
know them, and Israel, though it still exists now, Israel small,

605
00:39:39.039 --> 00:39:42.920
but they still exist. God preserved and kept Israel through everything. Right,

606
00:39:44.360 --> 00:39:46.920
you shall see, you shall see. So that's first the

607
00:39:46.920 --> 00:39:50.440
fate of Israel's will. Breaking this into basically two parts.

608
00:39:50.719 --> 00:39:53.639
So God's victory over Israel's enemies first, the fate the

609
00:39:53.639 --> 00:39:57.079
fate of their enemies. Well, we see them. They're gonna

610
00:39:57.079 --> 00:40:00.440
be shamed, They're gonna become basically nothing. You shall see them,

611
00:40:01.000 --> 00:40:05.360
but not find them. Total victory. Enemies will vanish as

612
00:40:05.360 --> 00:40:08.239
if they never existed. Israel does not need to fight

613
00:40:08.280 --> 00:40:13.079
for survival because God fights for them. All right, there

614
00:40:13.119 --> 00:40:16.760
we go, basically God's victory over Israel's enemies, the fate

615
00:40:16.840 --> 00:40:19.880
of their enemies, and they're gonna be You're gonna seek them,

616
00:40:19.880 --> 00:40:23.239
but you're not gonna find them. Right now. That brings

617
00:40:23.360 --> 00:40:26.960
us to verse thirteen. A personal assurance of divine help.

618
00:40:27.000 --> 00:40:29.679
This one is very simple for either Lord your God,

619
00:40:30.239 --> 00:40:35.119
hold your right hand. It is it is I who

620
00:40:35.400 --> 00:40:37.559
say to you, fear not. I am the one who

621
00:40:37.599 --> 00:40:40.760
helps you. All right. The personal nature of God's help

622
00:40:40.840 --> 00:40:44.679
I the Lord your God. See it's very personal, I

623
00:40:44.880 --> 00:40:49.639
the Lord your God. It's a direct covenantal affirmation. I'm

624
00:40:49.679 --> 00:40:56.599
gonna hold your hand I'm gonna hold In fact, it

625
00:40:56.599 --> 00:40:58.440
says hold your right hand. Does it say that in

626
00:40:58.440 --> 00:41:03.719
all translations? I will take hold of your right hand? Right?

627
00:41:04.519 --> 00:41:07.480
This is kind of like a fatherly image of grabbing

628
00:41:07.519 --> 00:41:12.760
your hand guiding right fear not is repeated. It reinforces

629
00:41:12.800 --> 00:41:23.280
the certainty of God's presence. Right now. I've got all

630
00:41:23.360 --> 00:41:25.199
kinds of other stuff here, but all right, we'll just

631
00:41:25.519 --> 00:41:29.360
summarize it this way. Isaiah forty one eight through thirteen

632
00:41:30.800 --> 00:41:33.760
shifts the focus from God's rule over the nations to

633
00:41:33.840 --> 00:41:36.840
his immediate care for Israel. He reassures them that they

634
00:41:36.880 --> 00:41:39.760
are chosen, not abandoned, that they do not need to

635
00:41:39.800 --> 00:41:43.000
fear because He will strengthen, uphold, and defend them. This

636
00:41:43.079 --> 00:41:45.599
passage is a powerful call to trust in God's sovereignty

637
00:41:45.760 --> 00:41:50.639
and faithfulness. So let's break this all down again. I'm

638
00:41:50.639 --> 00:41:53.599
just going to go through it really quick. Summarize everything,

639
00:41:53.639 --> 00:41:57.199
all right, Isaiah forty one eight through nine. Israel's identity

640
00:41:57.239 --> 00:42:00.480
as God's chosen servant. We broke this down as the

641
00:42:00.559 --> 00:42:04.079
contrast with the nations, the significant of My servant Jacob

642
00:42:04.480 --> 00:42:08.440
and Abraham, the offspring of Abraham. Then we looked at

643
00:42:08.440 --> 00:42:11.280
Isaiah forty one ten. We broke it down into two parts.

644
00:42:11.360 --> 00:42:13.719
The call are three parts, the call to fear not,

645
00:42:14.039 --> 00:42:16.880
be not dismayed, and the threefold promise. Then we looked

646
00:42:16.880 --> 00:42:19.400
at Isaiah forty one eleven through twelve, God's victory over

647
00:42:19.480 --> 00:42:22.159
Israel's enemies. We saw the fate of Israel's enemies. You

648
00:42:22.199 --> 00:42:24.320
shall seek them but not find them. And then we

649
00:42:24.360 --> 00:42:27.360
have a personal promise, and that is the personal nature

650
00:42:27.440 --> 00:42:35.719
of God's help. That is Isaiah forty one eight through thirteen. Right,

651
00:42:36.519 --> 00:42:40.239
any questions about that? Now, I could go through all

652
00:42:40.280 --> 00:42:43.760
the hermeneutical errors that people make here, but you know

653
00:42:43.800 --> 00:42:48.639
the hermeneutical errors here. Right, If you look through Isaiah

654
00:42:48.679 --> 00:42:51.480
forty one eight through thirteen, what I've already told you,

655
00:42:51.599 --> 00:42:54.159
what is the sermon probably going to be called in

656
00:42:54.280 --> 00:42:57.159
Isaiah forty one eight through thirteen. It's going to be

657
00:42:57.199 --> 00:43:00.320
saying fear not, and it's gonna make all all that

658
00:43:00.320 --> 00:43:06.159
about us? Right? Why why is that not? Why not?

659
00:43:06.199 --> 00:43:10.400
Only is it problematic because it's just hermoneutically incorrect and

660
00:43:10.440 --> 00:43:14.559
it's fraudulent way, it's not following basic rules of reading comprehension,

661
00:43:14.800 --> 00:43:18.599
But what makes it diabolical? What makes it almost evil?

662
00:43:19.239 --> 00:43:24.559
That pastors do this, well, they take the promises away

663
00:43:24.559 --> 00:43:27.880
from miserable. But what's more diabolical is they give you

664
00:43:28.039 --> 00:43:32.800
false hope. They give you some idea that God's going

665
00:43:32.880 --> 00:43:37.360
to intervene and fix your problems, make everything better. And

666
00:43:37.440 --> 00:43:44.000
you can't take that. You cannot do that. It's just wrong.

667
00:43:46.159 --> 00:43:51.000
It's just absolutely wrong for Christians to do that. And

668
00:43:50.760 --> 00:43:53.039
and I feel like in some I think in some

669
00:43:53.079 --> 00:43:55.599
ways and I cannot. I'm not gonna say that this

670
00:43:55.719 --> 00:43:58.559
is completely fair, but I'm saying in some ways I

671
00:43:58.599 --> 00:44:01.199
feel this way. When I I first became a Christian,

672
00:44:01.559 --> 00:44:03.800
I felt that I was given a million promises of

673
00:44:03.840 --> 00:44:05.199
what God was going to do, and he was going

674
00:44:05.199 --> 00:44:06.400
to do this, and he was going to do this,

675
00:44:06.440 --> 00:44:07.920
and he was going to do that. And now that

676
00:44:08.000 --> 00:44:10.920
God was on my side, right And the next thing

677
00:44:10.920 --> 00:44:13.280
you know, I'm being called from you know, the high

678
00:44:13.280 --> 00:44:16.360
school right down the road to Hendrick's Hospital, and then

679
00:44:16.559 --> 00:44:21.159
my mom dies. I'm a teenager. I'm like, what just happened?

680
00:44:22.360 --> 00:44:25.880
So I stopped doing drugs, I stopped selling drugs, I

681
00:44:25.880 --> 00:44:28.000
stopped trying to do this. I stopped trying to do this.

682
00:44:28.320 --> 00:44:30.840
I go to church, I'm doing this I'm praying. Oh,

683
00:44:30.880 --> 00:44:34.079
I'm still a sinner, but I'm like, compared to what

684
00:44:34.159 --> 00:44:36.519
I was, I'm doing as good as I can do. Right.

685
00:44:37.880 --> 00:44:39.719
And So when my mom was in the hospital, every

686
00:44:39.719 --> 00:44:41.440
ready knows the story. I spent twenty four hours in

687
00:44:41.480 --> 00:44:47.400
First Baptist Church, Tuscola, Texas, praying, praying, praying, praying, begging, begging, begging, begging, begging, begging.

688
00:44:47.480 --> 00:44:49.920
All I wanted really was just God to wake her

689
00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:51.360
up so I could at least talk to her for

690
00:44:51.400 --> 00:44:53.079
five minutes. I just wanted to try to make some

691
00:44:53.159 --> 00:44:56.599
kind of resolution. Couldn't even do that, couldn't even allow

692
00:44:56.639 --> 00:44:58.480
her to come back to consciousness so I could talk

693
00:44:58.519 --> 00:45:06.519
to her. She dies, Well, I felt like, what is

694
00:45:06.559 --> 00:45:10.280
this trash? So part of the reason I put a

695
00:45:10.320 --> 00:45:13.480
gun to my head is like I didn't understand anything anymore. Now,

696
00:45:13.519 --> 00:45:16.199
I'm not saying that that's every pastor's fault, because I

697
00:45:16.199 --> 00:45:17.840
should learn how to have read and I should have

698
00:45:17.880 --> 00:45:20.440
done better with reading comprehension, right, I should have been

699
00:45:20.480 --> 00:45:23.840
able to challenge it better. But it's just your your soul.

700
00:45:24.000 --> 00:45:27.679
You enter into Christianity, you just basically how does it work?

701
00:45:27.960 --> 00:45:32.559
Every word of this book it's true, and every word

702
00:45:32.599 --> 00:45:39.920
of this book is for you, all the promises, it's

703
00:45:39.960 --> 00:45:43.840
a love letter from God to you. It's and then

704
00:45:43.880 --> 00:45:46.840
you're told to do your daily devotions right and you

705
00:45:46.880 --> 00:45:51.119
get devotional guides, and every devotional guide does what makes

706
00:45:51.159 --> 00:45:53.320
it about you, makes it about you, makes it about you,

707
00:45:53.519 --> 00:45:56.320
and so you have you basically, I mean, I don't know,

708
00:45:56.440 --> 00:45:58.599
am I the only one? Is There not a time

709
00:45:58.599 --> 00:46:01.320
in your Christian life you felt like, oh, now now

710
00:46:01.320 --> 00:46:03.119
that I'm a Christian, God is on my side and

711
00:46:03.159 --> 00:46:07.280
he's going to basically do what take care of all

712
00:46:07.320 --> 00:46:10.239
my problems? Did it take care of all your problems? Now?

713
00:46:10.280 --> 00:46:13.599
Maybe your life has been really good, congratulations, But that

714
00:46:13.760 --> 00:46:16.280
really has nothing to necessarily I mean that's good. There's

715
00:46:16.320 --> 00:46:18.519
lost people that everything goes great in their life. So

716
00:46:20.320 --> 00:46:22.880
you know, how it's gonna play out is dependent on

717
00:46:22.920 --> 00:46:25.119
a lot of factors. And we can say God's sovereignty,

718
00:46:25.280 --> 00:46:29.320
but I just know that for some people that there's

719
00:46:29.360 --> 00:46:32.440
that verse about it reigns on the just and the unjust. Well,

720
00:46:32.480 --> 00:46:35.800
for some people it's a torrential downpour with a tsunami,

721
00:46:36.079 --> 00:46:39.239
with a couple of volcanoes, a nuclear weapon drops on

722
00:46:39.320 --> 00:46:44.760
them and their life is a living hell other people.

723
00:46:46.480 --> 00:46:49.920
You know, Hey, son, you can do your homework on

724
00:46:49.960 --> 00:46:53.119
the boat. We're gonna go out on. We're gonna go,

725
00:46:53.239 --> 00:46:56.400
We're gonna go fishing. That's a quote from the Breakfast Club. Okay,

726
00:46:56.400 --> 00:46:58.400
for those who don't get it all right, that uh,

727
00:46:58.639 --> 00:47:02.760
that's everything is oneonderful. Everything is great. Look I made

728
00:47:02.760 --> 00:47:05.280
you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and I cut

729
00:47:05.280 --> 00:47:07.840
the crust off and life is so wonderful. And it's

730
00:47:07.840 --> 00:47:11.679
a nice little, you know, little house on the prairie moment. Okay, well,

731
00:47:13.159 --> 00:47:17.119
not everyone has that, but say the people who have it, well,

732
00:47:17.119 --> 00:47:19.480
that will say because God does all of this. And

733
00:47:19.719 --> 00:47:21.880
the implication is if you were right with God, God

734
00:47:21.920 --> 00:47:26.719
would do it for you. And that's so messed stinking up.

735
00:47:26.880 --> 00:47:29.239
I get so sick of that, right, I get so

736
00:47:29.280 --> 00:47:31.960
sick of that. You almost want to go kick someone's

737
00:47:31.960 --> 00:47:34.159
out door down, burn their house to the ground, and go,

738
00:47:34.480 --> 00:47:38.320
WHOA what happened? Man? Okay, because it doesn't fit that

739
00:47:38.360 --> 00:47:41.639
way for everyone. If you give promises to people that

740
00:47:41.679 --> 00:47:46.519
are not for them, you mess them over and a

741
00:47:46.519 --> 00:47:48.559
lot and that's where a lot of people reach out

742
00:47:48.559 --> 00:47:53.719
and go, Where's God? I don't kick God, and then

743
00:47:53.719 --> 00:47:55.760
everyone assists in church just like I just don't know

744
00:47:55.760 --> 00:47:57.960
what's wrong with them. I just don't understand. You just

745
00:47:57.960 --> 00:48:00.199
need to pray a little more, read your boy a

746
00:48:00.199 --> 00:48:02.199
little more, go to church a little more so, and

747
00:48:02.199 --> 00:48:04.079
they always give you thirty seven things you need to do.

748
00:48:04.320 --> 00:48:06.599
It's always about what you can do, and it's like,

749
00:48:06.960 --> 00:48:11.880
or you're doing something wrong and we can't do that.

750
00:48:12.800 --> 00:48:17.039
We pursue that we approach things that way because on

751
00:48:17.039 --> 00:48:19.159
one hand we want to say God is in charge,

752
00:48:19.360 --> 00:48:21.320
but we really are trying to make ourselves in charge

753
00:48:21.440 --> 00:48:24.000
because we want a system in which we can understand it,

754
00:48:24.079 --> 00:48:26.480
we can control it. Well, if I do good, then

755
00:48:26.519 --> 00:48:28.719
God will do good for me. If I do bad,

756
00:48:28.800 --> 00:48:33.039
then well that's well, that's more covenantal language with for

757
00:48:33.199 --> 00:48:36.639
Israel than it is for us. Right, And it just

758
00:48:36.719 --> 00:48:40.400
becomes this major problem, and I'm just kind of tired

759
00:48:41.000 --> 00:48:45.559
of the way that constantly plays out. These promises are

760
00:48:45.639 --> 00:48:49.960
not for us, and if we try to apply them

761
00:48:49.960 --> 00:48:53.039
to us, they can only be applied in what way

762
00:48:54.599 --> 00:49:01.280
to our salvation. God saves us, he will keep us.

763
00:49:01.639 --> 00:49:06.039
We can't apply these promises like this to my salvation, right,

764
00:49:06.360 --> 00:49:10.639
God's chosen me. He will keep me, he has delivered me,

765
00:49:11.239 --> 00:49:14.599
he will bring me into the Promised Land. Right Like

766
00:49:14.679 --> 00:49:18.000
I can apply this to my in a sotereio logical way,

767
00:49:18.360 --> 00:49:20.679
I can't apply this in my life in a practical way,

768
00:49:20.719 --> 00:49:23.280
in any way, shape or form. Does anyone know how

769
00:49:23.320 --> 00:49:25.679
this week's gonna go for you or me or anybody?

770
00:49:25.719 --> 00:49:31.159
We don't know. There's pain, suffering, death, disease. That's what happens.

771
00:49:31.440 --> 00:49:35.119
But we have a hard time facing reality. Now I'll

772
00:49:35.239 --> 00:49:40.480
end how I began this. So all week I've been

773
00:49:40.840 --> 00:49:43.599
because March the first was the three hundred and thirty

774
00:49:43.599 --> 00:49:45.840
three year anniversary of the beginning of the Salem witch

775
00:49:45.880 --> 00:49:50.639
trials when the three women were interrogated. And I've been

776
00:49:50.719 --> 00:49:53.400
just kind of going back doing all these podcast episodes,

777
00:49:53.440 --> 00:49:55.400
doing it almost like in a story form, turning it

778
00:49:55.440 --> 00:49:59.199
into a story. Since I know the Salem story so well,

779
00:49:59.239 --> 00:50:03.559
I can taking down each individual part. Well, if you

780
00:50:03.599 --> 00:50:06.360
study Salem, as I said in the first hour, you

781
00:50:06.599 --> 00:50:09.400
are confronted with a man by the name of Cotton Mather,

782
00:50:09.719 --> 00:50:13.000
m A T. H e Er. You're confronted with this man. Well,

783
00:50:13.000 --> 00:50:15.440
if you listen to sermons on sermon audio, if you

784
00:50:15.480 --> 00:50:17.960
just look up sermons on Cotton Mather. They all defend

785
00:50:18.039 --> 00:50:24.000
him like he's the hero. And I even in one

786
00:50:24.000 --> 00:50:26.400
of the podcast episodes, I'm like hero of the faith

787
00:50:26.480 --> 00:50:28.719
or villain in a horrible story. I think Cotton Mather

788
00:50:28.840 --> 00:50:31.119
is a villain in a horrible story. And I think

789
00:50:31.159 --> 00:50:34.920
the facts demonstrated. And the one thing that occurred, as

790
00:50:34.960 --> 00:50:37.519
I stated in the first hour, is there was a

791
00:50:37.599 --> 00:50:41.079
pastor by the name of last name Burrows. He was

792
00:50:41.119 --> 00:50:44.199
a pastor in Salem. He had major problems with the congregation.

793
00:50:44.280 --> 00:50:46.280
I know, it's crazy. They get mad at him, some

794
00:50:46.360 --> 00:50:49.280
of them don't like him. He finally says, this place

795
00:50:49.360 --> 00:50:51.639
is trash. I mean, I'm not saying I'm paraphrasing, and

796
00:50:51.679 --> 00:50:54.880
he leaves. He goes to Maine. Now years later, he's

797
00:50:54.880 --> 00:51:02.280
in Maine hanging out come with us. He gets arrested,

798
00:51:02.960 --> 00:51:06.320
He gets taken back to Salem in chains. What did

799
00:51:06.360 --> 00:51:09.719
he do well? They accused him in Salem of being

800
00:51:09.719 --> 00:51:12.320
a witch, And how could they accuse him of being

801
00:51:12.320 --> 00:51:15.360
a witch because Cotton Mather supported this whacked out idea

802
00:51:15.400 --> 00:51:19.079
of spectral evidence, meaning that you, Bobby could be in

803
00:51:19.480 --> 00:51:23.000
you know, Kentucky, and then I could say, but Bobby's

804
00:51:23.000 --> 00:51:26.719
spirit came and tormented me and using it's called spectral evidence.

805
00:51:26.760 --> 00:51:29.960
And so now Bobby's accused of being a witch, and

806
00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:33.679
even though he wasn't physically present, he's still guilty. So

807
00:51:33.719 --> 00:51:36.280
this pastor is brought back. They put him on the gallows,

808
00:51:36.280 --> 00:51:38.159
put a rope around his neck. They're gonna kill him,

809
00:51:38.679 --> 00:51:42.639
and he recites the Lord's prayer perfectly. Well, a witch

810
00:51:42.679 --> 00:51:44.199
is not supposed to be able to do that, according

811
00:51:44.239 --> 00:51:46.840
to the Puritans in Salem. Well, I mean, he's a pastor,

812
00:51:46.880 --> 00:51:51.480
he knows it. Everybody's like, maybe we should let the

813
00:51:51.519 --> 00:51:55.360
guy go. Cotton Mather there, the story goes. He's sitting

814
00:51:55.400 --> 00:51:58.320
on his horse and he's like, guys, guys, guys, this

815
00:51:58.400 --> 00:52:01.639
guy was found guilty. This is Satan appearing as an

816
00:52:01.679 --> 00:52:07.760
angel of light. Nick killing. That's not the hero in

817
00:52:07.800 --> 00:52:14.679
the story. That's messed up. And then in That's sixteen

818
00:52:14.760 --> 00:52:17.159
ninety two, sixteen ninety three is when the trials occur.

819
00:52:17.400 --> 00:52:22.639
Seventeen hundred, a book is written outlining Cotton Mather doing that.

820
00:52:23.079 --> 00:52:26.960
Cotton Mather never refutes it. He just wants the book burned,

821
00:52:28.159 --> 00:52:31.639
So they do book burnings in Boston, right, Cotton Mather

822
00:52:31.800 --> 00:52:37.840
never apologizes. And Putnam Junior, she's the woman who she

823
00:52:37.920 --> 00:52:43.079
accuses everybody. She accuses like over sixty three people. She goes,

824
00:52:43.239 --> 00:52:46.400
she well, not woman, she's like twelve thirteen. She accuses

825
00:52:46.440 --> 00:52:49.440
everyone in tel She's just she's accused, accused, accused, accused

826
00:52:49.440 --> 00:52:54.360
of you. She in seventeen, it was August, like nineteenth seventeen.

827
00:52:54.480 --> 00:52:57.800
I don't remember the year she apologizes. Now, her apology

828
00:52:57.840 --> 00:53:00.679
is weird because I think her apology is blaming her father.

829
00:53:00.719 --> 00:53:03.039
But that's a whole different story because that man. All right,

830
00:53:03.840 --> 00:53:06.639
the Putnam family went after everybody, okay, because and it

831
00:53:06.719 --> 00:53:08.360
was weird that they kind of go after people that

832
00:53:08.440 --> 00:53:11.199
her father had land disputes with and who wanted their land. Okay,

833
00:53:11.440 --> 00:53:13.880
kind of interesting, but all right, But all the good

834
00:53:13.920 --> 00:53:17.159
godly Puritans. But the point is when we look back

835
00:53:17.199 --> 00:53:20.519
at history, we can't even look back at history to

836
00:53:20.599 --> 00:53:26.639
pursue truth because oh, we like the Puritans. Puritans on

837
00:53:26.679 --> 00:53:30.960
our side. We got to defend the Puritans, right, Oh,

838
00:53:31.159 --> 00:53:33.239
we want the Bible to be about us, so we

839
00:53:33.280 --> 00:53:38.079
make passages about us. Are for some weird reason, the

840
00:53:38.239 --> 00:53:42.079
church locks the I'm gonna say again, we do not

841
00:53:42.199 --> 00:53:44.880
pursue the study of church history. We do not pursue

842
00:53:44.920 --> 00:53:47.239
the study of the text for the pursuit of truth.

843
00:53:47.639 --> 00:53:50.480
We study these things for the pursuit of our own

844
00:53:50.519 --> 00:53:54.159
agenda and our own motivations, and our own selfishness. We

845
00:53:54.199 --> 00:53:58.000
want everything to be about us, and that's not what

846
00:53:58.119 --> 00:54:02.559
we do. We study this. Isaiah forty one is the

847
00:54:02.599 --> 00:54:07.840
story of Judah and Babylonian captivity and God fulfilling the

848
00:54:08.000 --> 00:54:11.920
very covenant promise he made with Abraham, and he does

849
00:54:12.039 --> 00:54:20.079
that for Israel. That's what it's about. Any application to

850
00:54:20.239 --> 00:54:24.880
us falls into which way we have been saved by

851
00:54:24.920 --> 00:54:31.639
God by his sovereign grace, and we currently, metaphorically speaking,

852
00:54:31.880 --> 00:54:36.639
we live in our own Babylon, where there's pain, suffering.

853
00:54:36.800 --> 00:54:40.159
We are still in bondage, right because I can't be perfect,

854
00:54:40.199 --> 00:54:42.800
so therefore I'm still in bondage. But there will come

855
00:54:42.840 --> 00:54:46.320
a time that we will be delivered and we'll be

856
00:54:46.360 --> 00:54:48.199
in the new Heaven and a new Earth. We'll go

857
00:54:48.360 --> 00:54:52.199
into our promise land. There is the metaphor, if you

858
00:54:52.199 --> 00:54:55.159
want a metaphor, But the text is not about us,

859
00:54:55.239 --> 00:54:58.920
it's about them. I can see myself in it because

860
00:54:58.960 --> 00:55:02.360
I'm in captivity. I can say myself, because I live

861
00:55:02.400 --> 00:55:06.719
in a world surrounded by circumstances that can create fear, dismay,

862
00:55:06.960 --> 00:55:10.119
pain and suffering. But I cannot take from this that

863
00:55:10.199 --> 00:55:13.559
God's gonna intervene in my situation to make it better.

864
00:55:13.719 --> 00:55:17.199
And I can't promise other people that I can promise

865
00:55:17.239 --> 00:55:22.400
that it will ultimately be better in heaven and eternity.

866
00:55:22.840 --> 00:55:25.599
I cannot promise anything's gonna get better now. And the

867
00:55:25.639 --> 00:55:29.679
Salem's story is just It shows that our pursuit of

868
00:55:29.679 --> 00:55:32.960
that information is not one out of a desire for truth,

869
00:55:33.039 --> 00:55:36.199
because anyone pursuing the Salem story would be like, come on,

870
00:55:36.280 --> 00:55:39.519
the Puritans were out of their ever living mind here.

871
00:55:39.880 --> 00:55:43.679
Cotton Mather should have recanted and repented of what happened there,

872
00:55:43.880 --> 00:55:47.559
but he wrote books defending what happened there. He wrote

873
00:55:47.599 --> 00:55:51.719
the judges to keep going on. And the only reason

874
00:55:51.760 --> 00:55:54.920
that and guess what, the Salem witch Charles did not

875
00:55:55.000 --> 00:55:59.599
stop because of good Christians. They stopped because the governor

876
00:56:00.079 --> 00:56:02.880
in Boston his wife gets accused of being a witch.

877
00:56:02.920 --> 00:56:10.599
And he's like, and this ends today. Not because someone

878
00:56:10.719 --> 00:56:15.360
was like, oh, as Christians, we only care about God. No,

879
00:56:15.519 --> 00:56:19.840
it was a politician going wait, you're gonna accuse my wife.

880
00:56:20.320 --> 00:56:26.559
These trials are over nothing. The Christians, the Puritans did

881
00:56:26.559 --> 00:56:38.360
not fix the problem twenty crazy right now that I'm

882
00:56:38.360 --> 00:56:40.440
just using the Salem witch trials, did you? And a

883
00:56:40.519 --> 00:56:44.920
roundabout way? That's serious. Getting Isaiah forty one is not

884
00:56:45.039 --> 00:56:48.599
near as serious as twenty people dying, But it's just

885
00:56:48.679 --> 00:56:55.039
as serious because we give people fraudulent hope, fake hope.

886
00:56:55.360 --> 00:56:59.159
Whether the information is wrong and it kills people, or

887
00:56:59.159 --> 00:57:02.599
whether the information is wrong and gives people false hope,

888
00:57:02.679 --> 00:57:07.519
it's still damaging and destructive and dangerous. And the thing is,

889
00:57:07.599 --> 00:57:10.559
it doesn't matter what we pursue. We should pursue truth.

890
00:57:10.719 --> 00:57:16.679
And sometimes truth is what not comforting. Sometimes it's not

891
00:57:16.719 --> 00:57:22.199
even about us. Sometimes it's ugly. Sometimes we don't like it.

892
00:57:23.920 --> 00:57:27.760
The study of Salem is not pleasant. It's ugly. It

893
00:57:27.760 --> 00:57:33.320
should make all Christians ashamed that there's Christian nationalism at work.

894
00:57:33.599 --> 00:57:35.440
What do I always say when the church and state

895
00:57:35.480 --> 00:57:39.480
come together, it's always the case. It's always the case.

896
00:57:39.559 --> 00:57:42.639
So that I just want you to see when we

897
00:57:42.880 --> 00:57:44.800
in our study of Isaiah forty one, I just want

898
00:57:44.840 --> 00:57:47.360
us to ask ourselves this question. I'll end when you

899
00:57:47.480 --> 00:57:52.119
pursue anything when you pursue whatever the issue is, whether

900
00:57:52.199 --> 00:57:58.039
it's cultural, political, philological, historical, you should care about truth

901
00:57:58.280 --> 00:58:08.079
above what to political party, loyalty to nation, loyalty to

902
00:58:08.880 --> 00:58:15.000
philological team, loyalty to anything. You should care about true

903
00:58:15.039 --> 00:58:17.599
When we study Isaiah forty one, we should care about

904
00:58:17.639 --> 00:58:20.760
truth and what should guide us and our study of

905
00:58:20.800 --> 00:58:28.880
Isaiah forty one basic reading comprehension, because basic reading comprehension,

906
00:58:29.679 --> 00:58:33.440
and if anyone online disagrees, they can contact Sarah. A

907
00:58:33.480 --> 00:58:36.280
third grader should be able to figure out how to

908
00:58:36.320 --> 00:58:40.440
read Isaiah forty one and at least establish what who

909
00:58:40.519 --> 00:58:44.000
it's about. They may not understand all of the complexities

910
00:58:44.000 --> 00:58:46.639
of Isaiah forty one, but they should be able to

911
00:58:46.639 --> 00:58:51.920
figure that out right and not only Isaiah forty one.

912
00:58:54.440 --> 00:59:00.000
Did the same thing happen in forty comfort ye, comfort, ye,

913
00:59:00.119 --> 00:59:06.239
my people speak comfortably to Jerusalem in verse two. Everybody

914
00:59:06.280 --> 00:59:12.800
see that? Right? And then where else? Oh Zion? Verse nine,

915
00:59:13.719 --> 00:59:19.039
Oh Jerusalem, everybody see that? Say unto the cities of Judah?

916
00:59:19.159 --> 00:59:23.000
And verse nine how many different times does this need

917
00:59:23.079 --> 00:59:29.519
to occur? Right? Then we get to forty one. Oh

918
00:59:29.559 --> 00:59:34.880
wait forty verse twenty seven, say us now, oh Jacob

919
00:59:35.119 --> 00:59:41.159
speak us, Oh Israel. Then we start in forty one,

920
00:59:41.360 --> 00:59:45.000
and before long we're right there verse eight Israel. I

921
00:59:45.000 --> 00:59:47.840
mean over and over. It's almost as if God was

922
00:59:47.960 --> 00:59:52.199
concerned that people may not understand who it was about.

923
00:59:54.000 --> 00:59:57.280
So I'm just I've grown tired. Look, I get tired

924
00:59:57.320 --> 01:00:00.400
of dealing with sermons on Isaiah forty to fifty. I

925
01:00:00.440 --> 01:00:03.760
really I'm grown tired. I'm getting very tired this week

926
01:00:03.920 --> 01:00:05.920
of listening to people tell me Cotton Mather was the

927
01:00:05.920 --> 01:00:08.440
greatest guy in the history of mankind. Right, I'm like,

928
01:00:08.599 --> 01:00:12.000
what is happening? What is good? Look, I've been to Salem.

929
01:00:12.039 --> 01:00:14.480
I'll be going back to Salem. I'll hopefully keep going

930
01:00:14.519 --> 01:00:17.360
to Salem for the rest of my life. But I'm

931
01:00:17.360 --> 01:00:20.119
gonna know everything about that place that I can possibly know.

932
01:00:20.559 --> 01:00:23.559
I just like, how can I study Salem? I can

933
01:00:23.599 --> 01:00:26.000
go to Salem, come back and listen to sermons and

934
01:00:26.039 --> 01:00:29.880
go Wait. So the Puritans were the good guys in

935
01:00:29.920 --> 01:00:36.239
the story. The good guys were the ones who killed

936
01:00:36.239 --> 01:00:39.440
the innocent people. Even though one of the girls who

937
01:00:39.480 --> 01:00:42.440
accused was willing to say some of the judges were

938
01:00:42.480 --> 01:00:49.519
willing to say, we got this wrong. The Puritans no now,

939
01:00:49.679 --> 01:00:51.679
obviously there would have been some Puritans have but I'm

940
01:00:51.679 --> 01:00:55.039
just saying, like Cotton Mather, the leader of the Puritans,

941
01:00:55.079 --> 01:00:59.119
are one of the he didn't like. That's just that's insane. Well,

942
01:00:59.280 --> 01:01:03.119
just demonstrate that what we have to constantly look at

943
01:01:03.119 --> 01:01:06.920
ourselves because we are motivated by what everything other. And

944
01:01:07.400 --> 01:01:10.320
I think sometimes our motives may appear to be good.

945
01:01:10.760 --> 01:01:13.800
Look when a pastor stands before everyone on a Sunday

946
01:01:14.199 --> 01:01:17.679
opens up Isaiah forty one, trying to give people encouragement,

947
01:01:18.079 --> 01:01:21.280
trying to give people hope because of their difficulty. On

948
01:01:21.280 --> 01:01:23.360
one end, you can see that the motive comes from

949
01:01:23.400 --> 01:01:25.360
a good place. I'm not going to be mean, right,

950
01:01:26.199 --> 01:01:32.519
but it's still messed up. It's still wrong, right. I

951
01:01:32.559 --> 01:01:36.320
can understand wanting to encourage someone, but you know, Bobby

952
01:01:36.400 --> 01:01:39.079
or someone calls like, I'm going through a difficult time. Well, hey,

953
01:01:39.079 --> 01:01:41.360
open up your Bible. Let's look at Isaiah forty one.

954
01:01:41.559 --> 01:01:45.679
Fear not be not dismayed. I'm trying to encourage you.

955
01:01:45.800 --> 01:01:47.840
The only problem is I'm giving you a promise that

956
01:01:47.880 --> 01:01:51.000
has nothing to do with you. So in some ways

957
01:01:51.079 --> 01:01:54.559
I see the evil of it. But on the other hand,

958
01:01:54.599 --> 01:01:58.480
I can see the desire too, right, I can see

959
01:01:58.559 --> 01:02:01.559
and I know that in any situation, there's always that

960
01:02:01.679 --> 01:02:05.679
desire to want to you want to help sometimes, but

961
01:02:05.719 --> 01:02:09.039
it just shows even our good motives, we can do

962
01:02:09.119 --> 01:02:13.079
something from a good motive and it's still be wrong. Right.

963
01:02:13.159 --> 01:02:15.840
Sometimes we can do something wrong, but our motives we're right.

964
01:02:16.119 --> 01:02:20.679
And that's ain't that confusing. Sometimes can have good motives

965
01:02:20.679 --> 01:02:22.320
but do the wrong things. Sometimes we can do the

966
01:02:22.320 --> 01:02:25.360
wrong things but have good Sometimes we can do good

967
01:02:25.360 --> 01:02:27.840
things and our motives are bad. It's like, because we

968
01:02:27.880 --> 01:02:31.840
are what sinful people, we just have to perceive. Whenever

969
01:02:31.920 --> 01:02:35.000
we're looking at something, why are we doing it? And so?

970
01:02:35.039 --> 01:02:38.440
What do we want? When we open the Bibles? Truth?

971
01:02:39.159 --> 01:02:43.119
We want truth? Do we want a sermon? No, we

972
01:02:43.159 --> 01:02:49.119
want truth? Do we want a Bible study? We want truth? Right?

973
01:02:49.559 --> 01:02:56.039
Do we want comfort? But we want truth? Right? We

974
01:02:56.119 --> 01:02:58.599
never want comfort at the expense of truth. We never

975
01:02:58.639 --> 01:03:01.840
want certainty at the expence of truth. We want truth

976
01:03:01.880 --> 01:03:05.599
at the expense of everything else. All right, there we go.

977
01:03:06.199 --> 01:03:08.519
All right, let's pray, Lord God, we come before you

978
01:03:08.920 --> 01:03:13.440
this afternoon. Lord, forgive us for our wrong motives, forgive

979
01:03:13.519 --> 01:03:18.079
us for our wrong actions, Forgive us for our wrong thoughts. Lord,

980
01:03:18.159 --> 01:03:22.559
let us hopefully continue to try to understand this section

981
01:03:22.679 --> 01:03:25.840
of your word and what you are doing and saying

982
01:03:26.320 --> 01:03:29.320
to the people that it was meant for, and how

983
01:03:29.360 --> 01:03:31.960
we can apply it to ourselves. Let us do that correctly,

984
01:03:33.559 --> 01:03:37.039
with great humility and with great concern for being accurate.

985
01:03:37.039 --> 01:03:38.800
And we asked this in Jesus name, and God's people

986
01:03:38.800 --> 01:03:39.039
said