Feb. 15, 2025

Isaiah 43: The Fourth Man

Isaiah 43: The Fourth Man

I review another sermon on Isaiah 43

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I review another sermon on Isaiah 43

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast, making Theology Central. Good morning everyone.

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It is Saturday, February fifteenth, twenty twenty five. It is

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currently eleven twenty seven am Central Time, and I am

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coming to you live from the Theology Central studio located

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right here in Abilene, Texas. Now, question, if you hear

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the phrase the testimony of God, what do you think

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that means? When you hear that phrase? What comes to

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your mind the testimony of God? What comes to your

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mind when you hear that phrase? If someone was saying, hey,

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I was reading my Bible this morning, and I read

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these words, and I, brethren, when I came to you,

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came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring

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unto you the testimony of God. That's First Corinthians, chapter two,

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verse one. What comes to your mind when you hear

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that phrase? Or if someone called you and said, hey,

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I was reading this verse what is the testimony of God?

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What would be your definition that you would give them?

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The testimony of God is.

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Go?

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What would you say? What would it be? Now I've

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not given it? Probably a lot of thought. Now I've

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preached all the way through First Corinthians before. I think

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it took four years to go through the book of

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First Corinthians, so I have preached on it before. But

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I was listening there was a sermon on this morning,

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a live webcast on the sermon's two point oh app

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and they called it something like something sweet words or

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more than sweet words or not sweet words. I can't

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remember exactly. They had on the screen. They had a

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picture of like Valentines candy, and they were kind of

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doing this little Valentine's kind of trying to connect it

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to that. But when they were preaching on this and

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First Corinthians, chapter two, verse one, they kind of referred

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to the testimony of God like like the testimony we

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have and God has his own testimony, And I was like,

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what is happening right now? So whenever that sermon is

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finally uploaded, I will download it and then I will

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then we will we will try to review it. But

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I just I'm just curious, how would you define the

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testimony of God? Because this idea that it's somehow like

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God has a testimony, You have a testimony. God has

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a testimony, And I'm like, what do you mean by that?

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What do you mean by that? And I don't even

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think it fits the context it was. It was already

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a little confusing. And then one was really frustrating in

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the sermon is he talked about when he was in

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Bible college, he bought this huge dictionary, kept talking about

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how big it was, and it could kill someone. It

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would be a consual weapon if he hid it under

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his coat, this giant dictionary of philological terms, of the

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evangelical philological terms something I can't remember the exact name

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of the dictionary. And he said he bought it. He

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was so proud that he bought it, and he took

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it home and he put it on his shelf, and

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he probably never looked at it more than four or

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five times. And it was almost like, I guess he

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was proud of the fact that he had this dictionary

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of all of these phyllological terms so that he could

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learn that he could grow. But I guess it was

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a badge of honor not to use the dictionary. And

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I was like, what is this? But then what was

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so frustrating? He says that in a sermon where his

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handling a first Corinth dance, Chapter two, Verse one, I

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don't know what that was. The testimony. God has a

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testimony like we do. It's okay, I think the context

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tells us what it is, but I'm just curious. So

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just keep that in mind. At some point we'll circle

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back to that. Because I was just I was just like,

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I think, I think I know what the testimony of

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God is, and I think that freezed. Well, okay, I'm

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not going to start preaching that, but yes, so that

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sermon it'll be uploaded at some point to the sermon's

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two point oh app but it will be something about

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sweet words more than sweet words, not sweet words. It'll

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be based off One Corinthias, chapter two, verses one through eleven.

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If you see that uploaded under new Sermons today, you

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may want to listen to it. Listen to how he

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explains the testimony of God, and then you can you

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can determine whether you agree or disagree. I just I

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don't know what that was. But we've got more to do.

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We've got more to do than that, all right, But

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I wanted to just mention that. But let's do this.

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It was October the twenty second, twenty twenty four. October

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the twenty second, twenty twenty four that I produced a

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message a podcast episode entitled Isaiah forty three Fear Not

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Isaiah forty three Fear Not. That was October the TWE

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twenty second, twenty twenty four. I don't know if I had.

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I don't even think I had in my mind at

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that time what we were about to walk into, right,

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because I start early on expressing my frustration, expressing my

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irritation and how Isaiah forty three and different things in

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Isaiah is handled so incorrectly by so many preachers in

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so many churches that they go to Isaiah and they

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immediately want to make these passages about us, about us,

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about us, and they do that in Isaiah forty three

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they do it, and so that what it ultimately ended in,

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ultimately what it has turned into, I should say it

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that way.

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Is this.

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Now we're doing this in depth, basically, verse by verse

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study of Isaiah chapter forty all the way through Isaiah

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chapter fifty five. It's going to take forever. And there's

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a part of me that says, what are you doing?

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What are you doing? You've already made your point, right.

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We have reviewed sermon after sermon after sermon of sermons

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found somewhere based on something between Isaiah chapter forty and

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Isaiah chapter fifty five. Every single sermon you have reviewed,

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every single sermon you have listened to, continually demonstrates this,

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taking these passages, making them about us, pushing out the

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original recipients, destroying the historical context, destroying the textual context.

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It is maddening. But you have made that point over

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and over and over. So maybe you should just wrap

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it up, and maybe we finished Isaiah forty and then

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we just stop. But can I do that? If sermon

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after sermon after sermon continues to make the same mistakes,

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doesn't someone need to produce a series of messages on

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Isaiah forty through fifty five that does the opposite of

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what I feel to be an erroneous way of handling

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the text. Now, most of you, maybe many of you,

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you will agree in the way all the other sermons

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handle it, but I think it's just completely wrong. So

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there's a part says I should just give up. But

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then I continue to find more and more sermons obviously

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being produced, being preached on Isaiah forty through fifty five

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that I think continues to make the same mistake. And well,

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we have a sermon on Isaiah forty three. So we're

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gonna be going to Isaiah forty three, which is where

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it all started anyway, and we're gonna listen to a sermon.

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And I feel that this one is well, at least

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from just the like sixty seconds I have heard of it.

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Maybe it was maybe it was, you know, two minutes.

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What I have heard of it appears to be going

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the same direction everyone else does.

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Now.

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One of the reasons I'm reviewing this one is just

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just because mainly not because it's just on Isaiah forty three,

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which just adds to what we are doing. But I'm

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reviewing this one mainly because it's a miss. This is

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the name of the church, Messiah Amish Mennonite Church, And

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we talked about this yesterday how I stumbled upon the

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Amish well on sermon audio and I'm like, wait, the

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Amish have their sermons digitally recorded, uploaded to sermonadio, and

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their church has a phone number that seems to go

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I guess everything about the Amish. But I guess if

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you connect the Amish with the Mennonite, then I guess

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then there's then I guess technology can be utilized. It's

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kind of interesting However, the Amish, at least according to

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some sources, their understanding of salvation would be very workspace.

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So yeah, there's a lot here like what is going

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on here? But they have a sermon on Isaiah forty three.

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I'm like, well, we've listened to just think of all

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the different groups we've listened to so far, sermons on

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between based on Isaiah forty through Isaiah chapter fifty five.

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We've heard sermons from Presbyterians, We've heard sermons from Baptist

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We've heard sermons from Bible churches. We've heard sermons from

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reform churches, non reform churches. We've heard sermons from people

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who are clearly omeline. We've heard sermons from people who

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are clearly dispensational, premillennial, and it doesn't matter their philological background. Inevitably,

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the same thing happens with the sermons. They go to

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Isaiah chapter forty, between between Isaiah chapter forty and Isaiah

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chapter fifty five, and they move out the original recipients

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and move us in. Even churches that you would think

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who are more dispensational would be like no, no, no, no, no,

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this is about Israel, this is about Israel. They almost

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inevitably fall into the same trap. They may say this

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is about Israel, but then the sermon becomes all about us,

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all about us, all about us, all about us. It's

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somewhat maddening to watch this play out over and over

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and over. So I thought today we would do this. Obviously,

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tomorrow will be spending two hours in Isaiah chapter forty.

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We're hoping tomorrow to get I would hope that we

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can possibly tomorrow get from Isaiah chapter forty, verse twelve

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all the way down to twenty four maybe maybe maybe,

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uh yeah, and then we'll save twenty five to thirty

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one maybe and its own as its own section. I

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think that's what we're gonna try to do. So we're

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gonna get close to maybe trying to finish up Isaiah

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chapter forty tomorrow. We're not gonna finish it all the

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way up. We'll need at least one more week. But

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I think we've covered everything we can cover in Isaiah forty.

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But to just get us back into this discussion of

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what Isaiah forty through fifty five is actually about who

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it's about. Just to reinforce these ideas. Some people may say, look,

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you've made your point, but Look, as long as new

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sermons are being produced on this section of scripture, there's

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got to be someone no matter how repetitive. Look, it's

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repetitive that people keep keep handling the text the exact

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same way, which I believe is an error. Well, then

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there I can be repetitive and trying to offer a

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counter perspective. So are you ready, let's jump in. This

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is from an Amish Mennonite church. They entitled the sermon

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the Fourth Man. Now that caught my attention that the

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fourth man. Well, who's the first man, who's the second man,

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who's the third man? And where did the fourth man

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come from? And who is he? And what do I need?

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Where does the fourth man come into play here? So

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Isaiah forty three, somehow this is about the fourth Man.

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I'm curious to see where they go with this. You

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know what we're looking for right now? Just so that

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you're just so that you remember this. Isaiah forty through

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fifty five is sometimes referred to as the Book of

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Consolation or the Book of Comfort. It is comfort being

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offered not to you and I, it is comfort being

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offered to those and Babylonian captivity. They are clearly identified

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in Isaiah thirty nine, five through eight. Then the word

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of comfort is to be delivered to those in Babylonian captivity,

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and they are identified countless times just in chapter forty Jerusalem,

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the Cities of Judah. There's no question who this is about,

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all right, And you cannot forget Cyrus and all of this.

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We've talked about him. Cyrus is the king that is

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utilized to release the people from Babylonian captivity. We've talked

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about all of that. So what we're going to do

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is when we listen to this sermon on Isaiah forty three, well,

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how much has Judah talked about? How much is Israel

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talked about versus? How much are we talked about? And

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at the beginning, is it immediately is it immediately put

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into or is it immediately set up? Is it immediately

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framed with us in mind? Or is it immediately framed

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with Judah in mind? Are you ready? Here? We go?

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Welcome to each one that is here, and we greet

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you in Jesus' name, Home folks, And we have a

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good amount.

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Of visitors here this morning.

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We're delighted that you've chosen to join us this morning.

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We don't know your names, but God does. But we

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want you to feel free to worship our great God.

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This morning for a text turned to the Old Testament,

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to the Book of Isaiah, chapter forty three. My prayer

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to God this week was Lord, what would you have

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for your people to hear?

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And for me as well? What is my need?

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So immediately we already know how this is being framed.

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So this week he prayed, God, what would you have

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your people here? He's referring to the people there in

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front of him, the congregation, And what would you have

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me here? What need do I have? So immediately, this

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is about me, This is about you, about them, It's

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I've said it countless times over and over and over.

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For some reason, when preachers come to Isaiah forty through

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fifty five, it's never them, It's never they. It's me,

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It's I. It's us, it's we, And I don't understand

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how I me us, And we end up in Isaiah

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forty through fifty five when it's clearly about them and

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they and the them and they is Judah and Babylonian captivity.

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That is who the message is for. It's a word

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of comfort to them. Whatever we can, whatever principles we

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can learn from. It is secondary to the message delivered

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to them. But even as prayer is Lord, what for us?

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For me? I my needs me, me, me, me, me me,

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don't get it so already. See I'm already. I'm already

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getting frustrated. I'm already getting frustrated. It's just it's like

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a broken record. Okay, that's that's a dated term. I

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mean some I mean Vinyl is still growing a popularity

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again to some level. Okay, But if you have a

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broken record, sometimes you will say that a record that

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where the needle gets stuck in the groove and it

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just kind of and it just kind of repeats, it

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gets stuck, right, Okay, Well does anyone know you know

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what I'm talking about? Someone does? Okay, Well, that's what

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it feels like. And I hate to say that, but

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it's just like, here we are, the sermon hasn't even

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just starting, and immediately me the words you have for me.

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I want to take the words that were meant for

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them and I want to make them all about words

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for me. But there were words for them. Let's see

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what else. Let's see. Maybe I'm just being too quick.

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You know, it is true that after listening to like

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a hundred sermons on this subject, you can start becoming

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very jaded, you can start becoming very cynical. You can

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just start now just assuming, and you know that can

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make you look really foolish. So pull back and say, hey,

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he just started. Let's not worry. Let's not say he's

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pulled out the frame yet. He's not framing this. Let's

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just give it a little bit more time.

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This message this morning is it's it's kind of twofold one.

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It's an message of encouragement. Secondly, it is a message

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of a reaffirmation of some a foundational truth that every

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believer in Christ needs to be settled on because it

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is the bedrock of victory in the Christian's life and

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of quote spiritual success.

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All right, So the words of Isaiah forty three are

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foundational on They're the bedrock for victory in the Christian life,

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for spiritual success. So clearly it's being framed about us.

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It's about us. So somehow the words directed towards Judah

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whither in Babylonian captivity are foundational to us, and they're

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basically essential for us to have spirititual victory, to have

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spiritual success. Somehow. The words of Isaiah forty three are

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about us and what we need to know so that

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we can have victory and that we can have success. Now,

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just make sure this is very important. I'm not saying

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that this is true, but this is what we need

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to be on the lookout for. If you take principles

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and you take promises and you apply them to people

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or give them to people and say you need this

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to be successful, you need this to be victorious, yet

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the principle or the promise is not for them, then

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they're not going to end up victorious. They're not going

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to end up successful. They're going to end up discouraged, frustrated, desponded, depressed,

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deconstructing because they're being told this will give you victory,

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this will give you success, and you're like, well, it

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didn't do any of that. Well it's not. It wasn't

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the fault of the text. It wasn't the fault of Christianity.

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It was the fault of preachers giving you promises that

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were never designed for you in the first place. I'm

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not saying that that's what's going to happen here, but

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I'm a little at least I'm a little concerned, because

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I know Isaiah forty three are words of comfort to

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those in Babylonian captivity, and so therefore we would say

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most of this would be descriptive, not prescriptive, as we

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have now talked about. I feel like one hundred and

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fifty thousand times, but I have to continue to repeat

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that hermenoutical principle. Many passages are descriptive. They're not prescribing

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you anything, Okay.

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In Isaiah forty three, beginning reading in verse one through

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verse seven, and then maybe picking up a few further

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down in the passage. But now, thus saith the Lord

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that created the old Jacob and he that formed the

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o Israel. Fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I

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have called thee by thy name, Thou art mine.

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Now, I don't want to belabor the point, but did

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you notice anything about Isaiah forty three, verse one, as

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if the writer knows that there's going to come a

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people someday that's going to constantly try to make this

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about them. In this section Isaiah forty through fifty five,

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the recipients are identified countless times. But now thus saith

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the Lord that created thee, oh Jacob and he that

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formed THEE, Oh Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed THEE.

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I have called THEE by thy name, Thou art mine.

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Now what are these people fearing? Well, they may be

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fearing that they're in Babylonian captivity and they're never going

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to get out. But fear not, because I have redeemed THEE.

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Now redeemed thee, is he saying? Is he speaking of

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their Babylonian captivity. Look, I know you're still in it,

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but just no, I have redeemed you. Your time is

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coming to an end. In fact, if you go to

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Isaiah forty, we've already talked about, they are told almost

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right from the beginning. Hey, the time is up. It's

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all coming to an end. So the redemption here is

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that the redemption from Babylonian captivity is referring to the

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redemption of them from Egyptian captivity, their fathers and the past.

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All right, I have called THEE by thy name, Thou

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art mine. How are they his? They are in a

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covenant relationship with God. He has made a covenant with them. Clearly,

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this is about them. Now, let's see what happens.

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When thou passest through the waters. I will be with THEE,

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and through the rivers they shall not overflow THEE. When

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thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned,

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neither shall the flame kindle upon THEE.

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No Verse two seems to show that, Hey, no matter

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what you go through, no matter what difficult, no matter what,

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I'm going to be with you. Why because God is

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in a covenant relationship with them. God promised them that

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they're going to come out of Babylon in captivity. And

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then you can say that there are a lot of

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other promises given to them that have yet be fulfilled,

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and we say that they will be fulfilled in the future.

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So the whole thing here is about them. Oh, and

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just to make sure that there's no confusion, look at

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verse three. For I am the Lord, thy God, the

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Holy One of Israel. They're mentioned again and verse three.

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For I am the Lord, thy God, the Holy One

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of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,

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Ethiopia and Siba for THEE. Since thou wast precious in

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my sight, Thou hast been honorable, and I have loved THEE.

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Therefore will I give men for THEE and people for

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thy life.

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Fear not, for I am with THEE.

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I will bring thy seed from the east and gather

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thee from the west. I will say to the north

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give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring

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my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends

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of the earth, even everyone that is called by my name.

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For I have created him for my glory. I have

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formed him, yay, I have made him.

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Now from a hermeneutical standpoint, what we could be the

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question I would come to mind. I wouldn't even be

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thinking about me. I would be like sounds like a

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regathering of Israel. I will say to the north, give up,

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to the south, keep not back, Bring my sons from far,

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and my daughters from the ends of the earth. This

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seems like a regathering of Israel. Now, is this a

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reference to what happens when they come out of Babylonian captivity?

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Or is this a reference of some future restoration of Israel,

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some regathering of Israel that has not occurred that would

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be a worthy hermoneutical dispute and discussion and debate, and

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that we could try to figure out. Is this like

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is it partially partially fulfilled? And the return from Babylonian captivity.

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But it's pittri to a future regathering that is yet

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to occur. Those are not about you, not about me,

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about them. This is all about them. Now, let's see

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what he's going to do. Because remember he said that

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in this passage though he's already made it, he's already

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framed it about us, and that somehow in this passage

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we find the foundational basically principles so that we can

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be sir, spiritually victorious and have spiritual success.

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Let's see now, in the years gone by, I have

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grown to love this portion, this passage here in Isaiah.

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If ever there's a passage from forty well, I'm not

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sure forty one, I'm going to say. And following the

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next several chapters in Isaiah, Isaiah brings home the point

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that there is that God is God beside him, there

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is none else, and that brings to us a sense of.

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Security and knowing there is no other God. It is God.

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A we believe in the in the Triune God. And

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here is one of those passages that has spoken deeply

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to me.

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I've entitled the message the Fourth.

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Okay, I just cut him off, But you notice this

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passage has spoken deeply to me, spoken deeply to me,

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words spoken to them. Now speak deeply to me. All right,

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now that's possible. But I got to understand how Now

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he's just getting ready to say I entitled this message

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the Fourth Man. I cut him off right in the middle.

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So hopefully he gives me an explanation why we got

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this called the fourth Man, because I'm very interested in that.

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That definitely has my attention.

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Frith Man, And you might wonder, well, that's kind of

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an unusual message. You don't even find it here in

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this passage, And I'll admit it's true. But I think

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by the end of the message you'll understand what I

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mean about the fourth Man. And in verse two, I

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want to highlight this passage here in Isaiah forty three,

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and I want to be speaking of a number of

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characters in the Bible, referring to some other passages as well,

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to reaffirm that foundational truth in that we find in

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God's word. Various writers speak about it, and we need

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to pick up on it in order for a stability

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in our own personal life. Verse two is what spoke

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the loudest when Thou passest through the waters, I will

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be with THEE, and through the rivers, they shall not

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overflow THEE. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt

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not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon THEE.

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And it is that The phrase I want to pick

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out of this is verse two. There it says, I

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will be with THEE. That's the foundational truth. Verse five says,

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fear not, for I am with THEE. Now sometimes we

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read passages and it just water on a duck's back.

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We hear it, Yeah, that's true, and our mind moves

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on to other things if it was even at the

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first centered on this thought.

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But that thought of I am with THEE.

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You know.

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In verse one, this is some of the things God

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says about what he has done for us. Verse one,

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he says, I have redeemed THEE. Verse one, I have

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called THEE. Verse four, I have loved THEE. Verse seven,

448
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I have created him from my glory. Verse seven, I

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have formed him. Verse seven I have made him. And

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verse twenty one, this people have I formed for myself.

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God is saying, I have done these things.

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Now, he's got to be really careful here, because he

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said for us. Isaiah forty three is speaking of what

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God has done for Israel, specifically for Judah, for those

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in Babylonian captivity. How many times I have to say this?

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It feels like it feels like I could spend the

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rest of my life just reviewing sermons on Isaiah forty

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through fifty five and just spend my life going hell,

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what are we doing? What are we doing now? Now?

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If you want to try to draw a parallel, then okay,

461
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if you want to draw a parallel, but don't say

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that these were words to us, These were words to them.

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Can we talk about them before we get to us?

464
00:27:24.599 --> 00:27:25.279
Maybe he will.

465
00:27:27.160 --> 00:27:29.920
And usually when we do things, there's a reason behind it.

466
00:27:29.960 --> 00:27:33.559
There's a purpose and a plan and there's no question.

467
00:27:33.640 --> 00:27:36.559
And I'm in my mind that God is at work

468
00:27:37.880 --> 00:27:41.960
and he is involved with his creation, no question about it.

469
00:27:42.279 --> 00:27:44.200
He says, I have made you, I have done this,

470
00:27:44.319 --> 00:27:47.960
I have done that, and you are called by my name,

471
00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:50.400
and he says, thou art mine.

472
00:27:51.000 --> 00:27:52.519
There's a whole message right there.

473
00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:54.319
If you're here this morning and I think you have

474
00:27:54.400 --> 00:27:56.240
no purpose and why am I here on this earth,

475
00:27:56.480 --> 00:27:59.759
that right there would clinch the argument.

476
00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:02.519
I have called you and I have and.

477
00:28:02.440 --> 00:28:04.599
You are mine. That's verse one. But that's just a

478
00:28:04.680 --> 00:28:06.400
rabbit trail there, just a little bit on the side.

479
00:28:06.440 --> 00:28:10.880
Note back to what Brother Phil was saying earlier. Our

480
00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:15.519
church has been through a stressful time, and I wondered, Lord,

481
00:28:15.599 --> 00:28:18.880
what message could I bring this morning that would help

482
00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:23.319
us as we work through what has transpired, which we

483
00:28:23.440 --> 00:28:25.480
believe was the work of the Lord.

484
00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:30.720
All Right, so the people are going through a difficult time,

485
00:28:31.359 --> 00:28:33.359
and so he's going to take a message from Isaiah

486
00:28:33.359 --> 00:28:37.200
forty three which is not about our difficult difficult time

487
00:28:37.400 --> 00:28:39.880
or your difficult time, and he's going to somehow try

488
00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:42.279
to bring words of comfort to us based off words

489
00:28:42.319 --> 00:28:45.359
of comfort given to someone else. Now, while we were

490
00:28:45.359 --> 00:28:49.319
listening this is again we've been talking about AI all

491
00:28:49.359 --> 00:28:51.839
through twenty twenty five. While we were listening, I just

492
00:28:51.960 --> 00:28:56.559
immediately downloaded the raw transcript of the message. I gave

493
00:28:56.599 --> 00:28:59.039
it to AI and said, AI, what do you take

494
00:28:59.079 --> 00:29:02.880
from this this is Ai? AI responded in five seconds

495
00:29:03.720 --> 00:29:11.039
weaknesses and areas of concern So AI analyze this sermon

496
00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:14.920
in five seconds and said, weaknesses and areas of concerns?

497
00:29:14.920 --> 00:29:15.480
Are you ready?

498
00:29:15.599 --> 00:29:23.640
Number one contextual misapplication of Isaiah forty three. AI in

499
00:29:23.880 --> 00:29:28.839
five seconds could tell me, there is a contextual misapplication

500
00:29:28.920 --> 00:29:32.720
of Isaiah forty three happening in this sermon. Human beings

501
00:29:32.720 --> 00:29:36.279
can't figure that out. Pastors cannot figure that out. People

502
00:29:36.279 --> 00:29:39.160
who've gone to seminary can figure that out. But Ai

503
00:29:39.240 --> 00:29:44.799
can figure it out in five seconds. Em contextual misapplication

504
00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:46.680
of Isaiah forty three, you want to hear what Ai

505
00:29:46.759 --> 00:29:51.319
has to say. Ai said, the sermon universalizes Isaiah forty

506
00:29:51.319 --> 00:29:55.319
three one through seven, applying it directly to individual believers

507
00:29:55.359 --> 00:30:01.799
today without first considering its original context. The contextual reality

508
00:30:01.839 --> 00:30:05.319
Isaiah forty three is part of Second Isaiah Isaiah forty

509
00:30:05.319 --> 00:30:12.880
three fifty five, which primarily addresses Israel's restoration from Babylonian exile.

510
00:30:13.200 --> 00:30:17.279
Isn't it amazing? Ai immediately realizes the problem. Ai immediately

511
00:30:17.319 --> 00:30:23.960
realizes the weakness. Ai immediately realizes the concern. AI does, so,

512
00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:25.720
if you were sitting in that church, I now it's

513
00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:28.759
an Omnish church, an Amish church, not in I keep

514
00:30:28.799 --> 00:30:32.480
putting it in there, an Amish church, Amish Mennonite church.

515
00:30:32.640 --> 00:30:35.440
I don't know if anyone there is having a phone

516
00:30:35.480 --> 00:30:39.400
with Ai on it, but if they do, within five seconds,

517
00:30:39.400 --> 00:30:39.960
they'd be like.

518
00:30:39.920 --> 00:30:41.880
Whoa wha whoa whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa whoa.

519
00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:49.279
We have contextual misapplication occurring. AI goes on to say

520
00:30:49.400 --> 00:30:52.240
the waters and fire in Isaiah forty three to two

521
00:30:52.480 --> 00:30:56.759
are likely metaphors for Israel's trials and exile, similar to

522
00:30:56.799 --> 00:31:01.039
their past deliverance in the Exodus. Notice Ai immediately attaches

523
00:31:01.319 --> 00:31:08.119
this language metaphorical symbolic language to Israel in the context

524
00:31:08.200 --> 00:31:12.720
that they find themselves, which is their Babylonian exile. The

525
00:31:12.839 --> 00:31:18.279
redeeming language is national and covenantal pointing to God's faithfulness

526
00:31:18.279 --> 00:31:23.119
and bringing Israel back, not a promise of personal protection

527
00:31:23.599 --> 00:31:29.640
for every believer and every situation. Well, God's faithfulness is

528
00:31:29.680 --> 00:31:33.319
a timeless truth. The direct individual application of Isaiah forty

529
00:31:33.319 --> 00:31:35.480
three to two, when you pass through the waters, I

530
00:31:35.519 --> 00:31:40.599
will be with you to believers today is problematic. The

531
00:31:40.680 --> 00:31:44.279
sermon bypasses the original corporate message to Israel and jumps

532
00:31:44.279 --> 00:31:51.160
too quickly to modern personal application. The AI goes on

533
00:31:51.200 --> 00:31:53.960
to say this sermon has a lack of nuanced discussion

534
00:31:54.039 --> 00:31:57.519
on suffering. The sermon strongly asserts that God will always

535
00:31:57.559 --> 00:31:59.720
be with believers, but it seems to imply that the

536
00:31:59.720 --> 00:32:04.960
Gara that this guarantees victory and deliverance and trials. Well,

537
00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.319
many biblical figures experience God's presence without immediate deliverance. Paul

538
00:32:09.400 --> 00:32:12.039
Thorn in the Flesh and the martyrdom of the Apostles,

539
00:32:13.039 --> 00:32:15.079
And you can think of person after person in real

540
00:32:15.119 --> 00:32:18.079
life who supposedly has God, and there is no deliverance,

541
00:32:18.119 --> 00:32:20.960
There is no protection, There is suffering, pain, death, there

542
00:32:21.039 --> 00:32:25.480
is I don't know, children being molested inside churches, sexual abuse,

543
00:32:25.519 --> 00:32:28.640
sexual assault. This happens, This happens, this happens, this happens,

544
00:32:28.680 --> 00:32:31.160
This happens. But say, hey, let's go to Isaiah forty three.

545
00:32:31.279 --> 00:32:33.720
Let's rip it completely out of context, and let's promise

546
00:32:33.759 --> 00:32:35.799
everyone then Everything's going to be wonderful and great, and

547
00:32:35.839 --> 00:32:37.799
God's going to do all the things for you that

548
00:32:37.839 --> 00:32:40.039
he did for Israel. But there's no guarantee he's going

549
00:32:40.079 --> 00:32:41.880
to do the things for you that he did for Israel,

550
00:32:41.920 --> 00:32:44.599
because with Israel he made a specific promise given in

551
00:32:44.680 --> 00:32:48.079
the covenant he made with them. Now you hear me

552
00:32:48.119 --> 00:32:50.599
getting frustrated, But I get sick and tired of this.

553
00:32:51.079 --> 00:33:01.039
What is why is this so complicated? AI also goes

554
00:33:01.079 --> 00:33:03.039
on within this sermon, you have an over use of

555
00:33:03.079 --> 00:33:09.519
personal and dramatic retellings. The dramatic storytelling, especially David and Goliath, Daniel, Joseph,

556
00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:13.839
and Joshua, make the sermon engaging, but overshadows the actual text.

557
00:33:14.599 --> 00:33:18.839
The Fourth Man analogy from Daniel three point twenty five

558
00:33:19.160 --> 00:33:22.200
is not directly tied to Isaiah forty three, but it

559
00:33:22.279 --> 00:33:27.279
is used as a thematic link. While creative connections can

560
00:33:27.319 --> 00:33:30.279
be useful, the risk of making biblical narratives serve the

561
00:33:30.279 --> 00:33:33.480
sermon's theme rather than letting the text shape the message.

562
00:33:34.400 --> 00:33:38.480
Some connections linking Joshua's conquest directly to the personal Christian

563
00:33:38.559 --> 00:33:45.039
victory blur the line between historical redemptive acts and modern application.

564
00:33:46.880 --> 00:33:49.000
And I mean it goes on. It offers number four.

565
00:33:49.559 --> 00:33:54.519
It goes on with philological and exegetical concerns. For example,

566
00:33:55.400 --> 00:33:57.640
I mean, I mean AI wrote wrote a book. I

567
00:33:57.640 --> 00:33:59.759
mean within five seconds, I mean literally I could put

568
00:33:59.759 --> 00:34:02.759
this in PDF file and literally it's I mean, it

569
00:34:03.079 --> 00:34:06.839
destroys the sermon in seconds. In seconds, it just literally

570
00:34:06.880 --> 00:34:10.159
obliterates it. It doesn't say, oh, this is a good sermon. No,

571
00:34:10.239 --> 00:34:12.960
it destroys it. It goes on to say, does Isaiah

572
00:34:13.000 --> 00:34:16.079
forty three one through seven teach personal salvation. The sermon

573
00:34:16.079 --> 00:34:19.119
implies that Isaiah forty three one through seven describes salvation

574
00:34:19.239 --> 00:34:22.880
from sin and personal redemption, but the context is corporate

575
00:34:23.079 --> 00:34:27.599
God redeeming Israel from exile. All right, Isaiah forty three,

576
00:34:28.440 --> 00:34:31.800
I have redeemed you is about physical restoration Israel's return

577
00:34:31.880 --> 00:34:40.639
to the land, not about individual justification. This sermon emphasizes

578
00:34:40.679 --> 00:34:44.679
God's presence as guaranteed reality, but biblically, God's presence is

579
00:34:44.719 --> 00:34:49.039
often contingent on faithfulness. Israel's exile happened precisely because they

580
00:34:49.079 --> 00:34:53.000
broke the Covenant. Passages like Deuteronomy thirty one warned that

581
00:34:53.079 --> 00:34:55.440
God may hide his face when his people turn from him.

582
00:34:55.760 --> 00:34:59.880
Clarification is needed. Then it gives a list of suggest

583
00:35:00.159 --> 00:35:06.639
improvements one, two, three, four. Okay, so it I mean,

584
00:35:06.679 --> 00:35:09.679
it just takes the sermon apart. It takes the sermon

585
00:35:09.719 --> 00:35:24.119
apart in five seconds, and it makes every I don't

586
00:35:24.159 --> 00:35:26.760
even know what to do. I don't. So we already

587
00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:28.519
know that the sermon is going to be a mess.

588
00:35:28.599 --> 00:35:30.679
We already know, and we already know the fourth Man

589
00:35:30.679 --> 00:35:33.239
thing is taking something from Daniel somehow connecting it to

590
00:35:33.280 --> 00:35:38.559
Isaiah forty three. There's just it's a listen to. We'll

591
00:35:38.599 --> 00:35:40.400
just listen to a little bit more. I think we've

592
00:35:40.440 --> 00:35:45.880
already established once again it's I just don't know what

593
00:35:45.960 --> 00:35:49.000
to do. I really don't know what to do. I've

594
00:35:49.039 --> 00:35:53.320
reached I'm reaching my breaking point here. Like how many

595
00:35:53.719 --> 00:35:58.960
sermons do we review? And it's the same playbook. It's this.

596
00:35:59.199 --> 00:36:01.280
It's like there's a it was like a It's like

597
00:36:01.360 --> 00:36:05.199
someone's put together a template and they meld it to

598
00:36:05.239 --> 00:36:07.679
all the churches and they open their mailbox like, oh,

599
00:36:07.760 --> 00:36:09.920
this is how I preach Isaiah forty through fifty five.

600
00:36:10.079 --> 00:36:12.679
Everyone the same way, the same way, the same No

601
00:36:12.679 --> 00:36:14.800
one bothered to go wait, wait, wait, guys, guys, guys,

602
00:36:14.840 --> 00:36:18.360
wait a minute, wait, just basic hermeneutical principles here. The

603
00:36:18.400 --> 00:36:22.280
text tells you who it's about. The context tells you

604
00:36:22.320 --> 00:36:25.239
who it's about. The history tells you who it's about.

605
00:36:25.719 --> 00:36:27.320
It's not about us.

606
00:36:29.880 --> 00:36:36.800
Ordinations cause change, ordinations cause stress. The three families that

607
00:36:36.840 --> 00:36:40.239
were in the lot just come through that. That was

608
00:36:40.239 --> 00:36:43.599
a stressful time. Some of us know how that feels.

609
00:36:45.400 --> 00:36:49.000
The leadership has come through a stressful time. The one

610
00:36:49.000 --> 00:36:54.880
who are is was Ordane feels the effects directly of

611
00:36:54.920 --> 00:37:00.440
coming through this stressful time, He and his family, their

612
00:37:00.480 --> 00:37:05.719
lives have been changed and altered significantly. So where do

613
00:37:05.880 --> 00:37:09.480
we go in times like this when the stress level

614
00:37:09.519 --> 00:37:13.960
is ratcheted up a few notches? How do we cope

615
00:37:14.559 --> 00:37:17.639
personally when stress enters our life on more of a

616
00:37:17.719 --> 00:37:20.960
general scale. Where do we turn to when these stresses

617
00:37:21.000 --> 00:37:24.719
come and shake our world a little bit? It's a

618
00:37:24.719 --> 00:37:31.639
good shaking, but it's still stress involved. What should be

619
00:37:31.679 --> 00:37:35.559
our mindset towards change?

620
00:37:36.280 --> 00:37:36.440
Well?

621
00:37:36.480 --> 00:37:39.519
I think the answer for me, at least is to

622
00:37:39.719 --> 00:37:45.800
know that we are not alone in this process. That

623
00:37:46.039 --> 00:37:50.079
fact brings my heart a certain sense of comfort and peace,

624
00:37:50.480 --> 00:37:53.920
doesn't it yours? And then I go back to what

625
00:37:54.320 --> 00:38:00.239
Isaiah God through Isaiah to his people. God told Isaiah, yuh,

626
00:38:01.360 --> 00:38:09.480
tell my people that I will be with them.

627
00:38:09.559 --> 00:38:13.039
Okay, so he's taking they're going through a stressful time.

628
00:38:13.079 --> 00:38:15.719
It sounds like because of ordination, but it's a good stress,

629
00:38:15.840 --> 00:38:18.360
but it's a stress time. And so then basically, hey,

630
00:38:18.599 --> 00:38:20.719
what helps me know is that God is with me?

631
00:38:20.960 --> 00:38:23.599
Now Again, I've stated it so many times. It's a

632
00:38:23.639 --> 00:38:27.760
double edged sword, right, It's a double leedged sword depending

633
00:38:27.800 --> 00:38:30.480
on what you're going through. Okay, God is with me. Yeah,

634
00:38:30.599 --> 00:38:33.960
God is with you. I'm sorry your daughter is still

635
00:38:33.960 --> 00:38:35.880
dead because she was hit by a drunk driver, but

636
00:38:35.920 --> 00:38:39.679
God is with you. Hey, I'm sorry the cancer is

637
00:38:39.719 --> 00:38:42.519
now spread, it's terminal, you've got six months. But God

638
00:38:42.599 --> 00:38:45.559
is with you. Hey, I know this situation, but God

639
00:38:45.599 --> 00:38:48.400
is with you. It can be comforting, Okay, God is

640
00:38:48.440 --> 00:38:50.119
with me, but it can also be a double edged

641
00:38:50.119 --> 00:38:53.400
sword because you can be like, wait, so the all knowing,

642
00:38:53.800 --> 00:38:56.239
all powerful God is with me, but he's not going

643
00:38:56.280 --> 00:38:58.440
to fix any of the situation, not making it, not

644
00:38:58.440 --> 00:39:01.840
gonna make it any better, and he didn't prevent it. Hey,

645
00:39:02.599 --> 00:39:04.320
we just got a call from the school. Our kid

646
00:39:04.320 --> 00:39:06.679
has been shot in a school shooting. But hey, God

647
00:39:06.760 --> 00:39:10.199
is with us. So the God who's with us is

648
00:39:10.239 --> 00:39:11.920
the God who knew it was going to happen, did

649
00:39:11.960 --> 00:39:13.880
nothing to stop it, and is not going to raise

650
00:39:13.880 --> 00:39:15.880
our child from the dead. But God is with us.

651
00:39:15.960 --> 00:39:18.760
It's a double ledged sword. I know. It's always presented

652
00:39:18.760 --> 00:39:20.559
in sermons as a Hey, this is the thing that

653
00:39:20.599 --> 00:39:23.239
should bring you so much comfort. And not only that, though,

654
00:39:23.280 --> 00:39:25.199
the problem is he's taking a passage.

655
00:39:25.559 --> 00:39:25.719
Now.

656
00:39:25.800 --> 00:39:29.440
Remember Isaiah wrote the Isaiah forty through fifty five about

657
00:39:29.440 --> 00:39:31.760
one hundred years before they even go into captivity. But

658
00:39:32.199 --> 00:39:35.079
so Isaiah is in a sense almost trying to give

659
00:39:35.119 --> 00:39:37.760
them words of comfort before they ever go into the situation.

660
00:39:38.800 --> 00:39:41.639
But he says, it's to God, it's to his people,

661
00:39:41.960 --> 00:39:45.960
it's to Judah and Babylonian captivity. See, he's not being

662
00:39:46.159 --> 00:39:49.800
very precise and exactly who this is too. This is

663
00:39:49.880 --> 00:39:53.039
to them, This is telling them what God is going

664
00:39:53.079 --> 00:39:56.079
to do for them. God is going to intervene for them.

665
00:39:56.320 --> 00:39:58.599
God's going to do this for them. And what is

666
00:39:58.639 --> 00:40:00.639
the basis of God doing all of this for them?

667
00:40:01.360 --> 00:40:07.599
Very specific promises given to them. None of it is you,

668
00:40:08.320 --> 00:40:14.880
it's them.

669
00:40:12.039 --> 00:40:15.079
And he reiterates, he reaffirms it in verse five, fear not,

670
00:40:15.800 --> 00:40:21.119
for I am with THEE. And so we come back

671
00:40:21.159 --> 00:40:27.199
to that truth that God is with us. If you

672
00:40:27.280 --> 00:40:30.679
forget everything else of the message this morning, camp on

673
00:40:30.840 --> 00:40:34.159
that thought and think about that and what it means.

674
00:40:35.719 --> 00:40:38.199
Now, I got no problem if you want to have

675
00:40:38.239 --> 00:40:41.440
a discussion about God being with us. But if you're

676
00:40:41.480 --> 00:40:44.679
going to have that discussion, then you've got to have

677
00:40:44.719 --> 00:40:48.239
the very uncomfortable reality of what that means. God is

678
00:40:48.280 --> 00:40:52.480
with me. But there's no there's no guarantee he's going

679
00:40:52.559 --> 00:40:55.760
to protect me in any way, shape or form. It's

680
00:40:55.800 --> 00:40:58.320
no guarantee he's going to provide healing, he's going to

681
00:40:58.360 --> 00:41:01.760
fix the problem. God is with me. Now, what I

682
00:41:01.800 --> 00:41:04.320
can take from that is because He is with me,

683
00:41:04.880 --> 00:41:10.280
then my eternal security is guaranteed. I'm eternally secure. My

684
00:41:10.360 --> 00:41:12.920
sins have been forgotten, the righteousness of Christ have been

685
00:41:12.920 --> 00:41:15.320
imputed in my account. There will come a time there'll

686
00:41:15.320 --> 00:41:17.239
be no more pain, no more suffering, and no more death,

687
00:41:17.440 --> 00:41:20.119
and there will be no more sinful nature. I will

688
00:41:20.119 --> 00:41:23.000
have a new body. Yeah, I am guaranteed all of

689
00:41:23.039 --> 00:41:26.159
the blessings and eternity. But right now, when this life,

690
00:41:26.280 --> 00:41:29.159
I may say God is with me, but that is no.

691
00:41:29.480 --> 00:41:32.360
You can't even hint that it's a guarantee that God's

692
00:41:32.360 --> 00:41:35.280
gonna protect, intervene, or do anything for you. Because there's

693
00:41:35.320 --> 00:41:38.039
been millions of people that God has been with They've

694
00:41:38.039 --> 00:41:41.760
been martyred, they've been killed, they've been tortured, they've suffered

695
00:41:41.760 --> 00:41:45.239
from death, disease. God may be with you, and they

696
00:41:45.280 --> 00:41:47.280
may have gone to church when they were young and

697
00:41:47.320 --> 00:41:51.639
then sexually assaulted by religious leader. I mean, we can

698
00:41:51.679 --> 00:41:54.079
go on and on and on and on and on.

699
00:41:54.199 --> 00:41:56.679
If things happen. They may be in a Christian school

700
00:41:56.800 --> 00:41:59.360
and a school shooting happens, then they get killed. Okay,

701
00:41:59.599 --> 00:42:01.360
we can go on and on and on. Now I

702
00:42:01.360 --> 00:42:03.159
know whenever I say that people roll the rise, they

703
00:42:03.199 --> 00:42:05.519
get mad, they get defensive, they don't like it. But

704
00:42:05.639 --> 00:42:07.360
if we're going to have if we're gonna have a

705
00:42:07.400 --> 00:42:10.400
theology that's worth anything, it has to have a theology

706
00:42:10.559 --> 00:42:14.000
that exists in reality, not a theology that creates a

707
00:42:14.039 --> 00:42:17.880
Hallmark movie version of life. But because life is not

708
00:42:17.960 --> 00:42:20.320
like a Hallmark movie. It's not like a Disney movie.

709
00:42:20.400 --> 00:42:24.239
It's real and it's painful, and it's messy, and it's ugly,

710
00:42:24.480 --> 00:42:30.119
and it's sometimes complicated to understand. But what you cannot

711
00:42:30.239 --> 00:42:32.559
do is go take things that were meant for other

712
00:42:32.639 --> 00:42:36.039
people and their situation with a specific promise based off

713
00:42:36.039 --> 00:42:39.519
a specific covenant which had nothing to do with us,

714
00:42:40.360 --> 00:42:42.719
and then go then try to steal all of that

715
00:42:43.000 --> 00:42:45.719
and apply it to us. And somehow I think that

716
00:42:45.760 --> 00:42:48.679
God's going to act in the same or similar manner.

717
00:42:53.280 --> 00:42:56.039
Now here's a question. I'd like that just a little

718
00:42:56.039 --> 00:43:03.800
bit of feedback. What would you say is the evidence

719
00:43:05.480 --> 00:43:10.280
of God's presence in your life?

720
00:43:10.519 --> 00:43:14.760
Oh, now, that's a good question. What is the evidence

721
00:43:15.239 --> 00:43:19.480
of God's presence in your life? What is the evidence

722
00:43:19.519 --> 00:43:25.280
that God is present? Okay, Now, I may have been

723
00:43:25.400 --> 00:43:30.480
very frustrated with the whole sermon. I may be very frustrated,

724
00:43:31.320 --> 00:43:34.239
but see, this is why we listen to sermons. I'm

725
00:43:34.239 --> 00:43:42.400
a frustrated, But that's a good question. What is the

726
00:43:42.480 --> 00:43:57.639
evidence of God's presence in your life? The dog next door?

727
00:43:57.880 --> 00:44:00.559
The evidence that there's a dog next door is never

728
00:44:00.760 --> 00:44:03.760
ending barking, which is irritating me right now, right, What

729
00:44:03.920 --> 00:44:05.639
is the evidence of God's presence in your life? I

730
00:44:05.719 --> 00:44:07.039
want you to write that down and I want you

731
00:44:07.079 --> 00:44:08.639
to think about that all day. We're gonna stop. No,

732
00:44:08.719 --> 00:44:10.840
We're gonna see if he gives an answer. But that's

733
00:44:10.880 --> 00:44:14.559
a good question. We say God is present, we say

734
00:44:14.559 --> 00:44:18.280
God he's omnipresent, we say he's with us. All right,

735
00:44:18.320 --> 00:44:23.519
what is the evidence of that? Oh, that's that's a

736
00:44:23.559 --> 00:44:25.440
good question. Let's see how it answers it?

737
00:44:28.440 --> 00:44:32.360
Or in the situation, what would you say is the

738
00:44:32.480 --> 00:44:37.840
evidence that you could point to that would reaffirm that

739
00:44:37.960 --> 00:44:41.840
God is in my life? Or God is present? It's

740
00:44:41.920 --> 00:44:44.960
kind of a vague question. Don't there's no bad answers,

741
00:44:45.079 --> 00:44:49.519
But what's the evidence that God is with you?

742
00:44:52.480 --> 00:44:54.360
Peace? In my brother?

743
00:44:55.119 --> 00:44:56.960
If I had a pink balloon, I'd give it to you.

744
00:44:57.679 --> 00:45:00.239
That is the first one on my list. Brother Brett,

745
00:45:00.760 --> 00:45:02.360
do you have peace in your heart?

746
00:45:03.800 --> 00:45:04.000
See?

747
00:45:04.039 --> 00:45:08.159
As we go through stressful times and we wonder does

748
00:45:08.199 --> 00:45:12.519
anybody care? Does anybody know what I'm going through? Marcus

749
00:45:12.559 --> 00:45:15.519
could ask that and there'd be some brethren say I

750
00:45:15.559 --> 00:45:20.760
know exactly what you're going through, but that God is present.

751
00:45:20.920 --> 00:45:24.960
The result is manifest by a peace. Is there another

752
00:45:25.440 --> 00:45:27.800
Is there something else that would be an evidence?

753
00:45:32.039 --> 00:45:34.960
Huh? You feel his presence?

754
00:45:35.360 --> 00:45:40.960
How okay? So the sermon is saying the evidence is

755
00:45:41.000 --> 00:45:45.599
you have peace of mind and you feel His presence.

756
00:45:49.280 --> 00:45:53.360
Oh boy, I asked Ai about this. Ai immediately within

757
00:45:53.440 --> 00:45:56.559
five seconds says, uh, there's a weakness in how this

758
00:45:56.599 --> 00:46:01.239
sermon frames this question. A says, did the sermon imply

759
00:46:01.400 --> 00:46:05.880
that God's presence is always evidence and positive outcomes? If

760
00:46:05.960 --> 00:46:09.360
evidence of God's presence is framed primarily in terms of victory,

761
00:46:09.440 --> 00:46:14.679
success or deliverance, this mis represents biblical reality. Many faithful

762
00:46:14.719 --> 00:46:17.840
believers suffer struggle and feel abandoned. This does not mean

763
00:46:17.880 --> 00:46:21.400
God is absent see Job David in the Psalms and

764
00:46:21.440 --> 00:46:25.920
Paul's Hardships? Did it rely on subjective feelings rather than

765
00:46:25.960 --> 00:46:32.320
objective truth? Some sermons overemphasize emotional experiences. You should feel peace, joy,

766
00:46:32.679 --> 00:46:36.000
confidence is proof of God's presence. However, many faithful believers

767
00:46:36.000 --> 00:46:41.039
struggle with doubt. Jeremiah John de Baptist, Well, how did

768
00:46:41.119 --> 00:46:44.960
Jesus respond in the garden. Biblical evidence of God's presence

769
00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:48.159
is not based on emotion, but on truth. Did it

770
00:46:48.199 --> 00:46:53.440
confuse temporary experiences with lasting assurance. If miracles, visions, or

771
00:46:53.480 --> 00:46:57.559
supernatural signs are emphasized as primary evidence of God's presence,

772
00:46:57.880 --> 00:47:00.400
this neglects the biblical teaching that God's presers sence is

773
00:47:00.440 --> 00:47:06.440
primarily known through the spirit, the Word, and perseverance. All right,

774
00:47:06.480 --> 00:47:08.679
so they've given us you peace of mind, and you

775
00:47:09.039 --> 00:47:11.920
feel it now. If you go with how you feel,

776
00:47:12.159 --> 00:47:15.880
ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry, that is a recipe of

777
00:47:16.079 --> 00:47:20.199
not spiritual victory, of not spiritual success. That is a

778
00:47:20.239 --> 00:47:24.440
recipe for complete and total destruction when it comes to God.

779
00:47:24.760 --> 00:47:29.920
When it comes to faith, do not base anything on feelings.

780
00:47:30.199 --> 00:47:34.480
Feelings will mislead you destroy you, ruin you.

781
00:47:37.079 --> 00:47:48.920
How do you feel his presence even it's life giving?

782
00:47:49.039 --> 00:47:49.960
Isn't it okay?

783
00:47:49.960 --> 00:47:54.079
Someone else another evidence that you can point to that

784
00:47:54.199 --> 00:47:57.360
you would say because of that, I know God is present.

785
00:47:59.400 --> 00:48:02.119
Please note this is you, you, you, you, you. The

786
00:48:02.199 --> 00:48:08.400
text is being absolutely systematically just destroyed in front of

787
00:48:08.440 --> 00:48:18.960
our very eyes, our very ears. Question was God present

788
00:48:19.920 --> 00:48:28.159
with Judah in their Babylonian captivity? Did they feel it?

789
00:48:29.320 --> 00:48:33.159
Did they sense it? Did they have peace of mind

790
00:48:33.599 --> 00:48:36.679
during it? And I will argue God was present because well,

791
00:48:36.719 --> 00:48:40.079
he's present with Israel, He's with them. But yet guess

792
00:48:40.079 --> 00:48:44.440
what around them was pain, suffering, death and captivity. They

793
00:48:44.480 --> 00:48:48.000
didn't feel it, they didn't see it, they didn't experience it,

794
00:48:48.039 --> 00:48:52.159
didn't change it. Because God's presence is not determined or

795
00:48:52.639 --> 00:48:56.400
detected by your feelings, or even by your circumstances, or

796
00:48:56.440 --> 00:49:00.159
even by your your experience.

797
00:49:05.760 --> 00:49:06.159
I'm sir.

798
00:49:07.679 --> 00:49:11.159
People who are supportive, yes, they come around you, lay

799
00:49:11.159 --> 00:49:13.760
their hand on your shoulder, or speak words of encouragement.

800
00:49:15.800 --> 00:49:21.719
So people who are supportive proves God's presence right. Atheists

801
00:49:21.760 --> 00:49:27.079
never support other atheists. Agnostics never support other God's presence

802
00:49:27.119 --> 00:49:29.079
is because someone comes up and puts their hand on

803
00:49:29.119 --> 00:49:33.079
my shoulder and says, here here, now, Everything's gonna be okay.

804
00:49:34.760 --> 00:49:43.199
That's proof of God's presence. So when Job's friends show

805
00:49:43.320 --> 00:49:45.800
up and accuse him of everything, was God not present?

806
00:49:46.000 --> 00:49:50.400
Or did God abandon Joe? Oh? So many when David

807
00:49:50.400 --> 00:49:52.800
felt like everyone was against him, when Paul felt like

808
00:49:52.840 --> 00:49:56.800
everyone had abandoned him. When John the Baptist ended up

809
00:49:56.880 --> 00:50:00.119
in prison and Jesus himself didn't even bother to show

810
00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:03.559
go up to go here now here, Now Everything's gonna

811
00:50:03.559 --> 00:50:05.840
be okay. Oh no, he was left to run in

812
00:50:05.840 --> 00:50:08.559
prison and then have his head removed. So was that

813
00:50:08.639 --> 00:50:11.039
not Did that prove that God wasn't present?

814
00:50:15.800 --> 00:50:19.280
Thank you for that? For the field the joy of

815
00:50:19.320 --> 00:50:20.400
the Lord. Amen.

816
00:50:21.239 --> 00:50:25.760
Amen, there's a joy there because I'm not eardened by myself.

817
00:50:26.000 --> 00:50:29.679
God is with me. The Word says I will be

818
00:50:29.800 --> 00:50:30.360
with THEE.

819
00:50:30.679 --> 00:50:34.440
The Word says I am with THEE. And because of that,

820
00:50:34.679 --> 00:50:38.760
there's the side benefits that come in peace, support, joy,

821
00:50:38.960 --> 00:50:43.199
and I put down here calmness. There's a lack of anxiety.

822
00:50:43.400 --> 00:50:46.760
Why because He is with us.

823
00:50:48.880 --> 00:50:52.199
So Christians should always have all of these things because

824
00:50:52.239 --> 00:50:54.519
God is with THEE, and these are the result of

825
00:50:54.559 --> 00:50:56.599
God being with you. So if God is with you,

826
00:50:56.719 --> 00:51:00.800
then you have no you have calm, peace, joy, no

827
00:51:00.840 --> 00:51:06.760
matter what's going on. Because oh, this becomes so so

828
00:51:06.800 --> 00:51:08.360
then I guess you have to begin to question if

829
00:51:08.360 --> 00:51:15.519
God is with you? Oh man, okay.

830
00:51:17.559 --> 00:51:21.440
I almost apologize because this message is so simple, it's

831
00:51:21.440 --> 00:51:24.880
so basic, But the profoundness of the fact that He's

832
00:51:24.960 --> 00:51:28.440
with us is able to help carry me through some

833
00:51:28.480 --> 00:51:32.320
of the hardest times in my life and you as well.

834
00:51:33.480 --> 00:51:35.840
Let's turn back to Joshua. I'm going to be using

835
00:51:35.880 --> 00:51:38.239
a lot of scripture this morning. I want you to

836
00:51:38.280 --> 00:51:43.000
see what I see Joshua chapter one. And we find

837
00:51:43.079 --> 00:51:49.559
here a man who is asked to take on a responsibility,

838
00:51:50.239 --> 00:51:55.760
and it looks fairly monumental to him. But notice something

839
00:51:57.119 --> 00:52:00.119
Joshua chapter one.

840
00:52:00.360 --> 00:52:04.639
Now, and what world and what system of cross referencing

841
00:52:05.679 --> 00:52:11.800
do you get from Isaiah forty three to Joshua? What

842
00:52:12.000 --> 00:52:17.119
system of cross referencing even makes that plausible or possible?

843
00:52:18.280 --> 00:52:20.800
How do we're in Isaiah forty three? Let's go to Joshua.

844
00:52:20.920 --> 00:52:21.800
Whoa whah, whoa, whoa?

845
00:52:21.880 --> 00:52:23.639
How did we get here? Now? Maybe we go to

846
00:52:23.719 --> 00:52:28.480
Joshua to see the promises and God's covenant that he

847
00:52:28.559 --> 00:52:32.639
made with Israel. And because he did this in the past,

848
00:52:33.360 --> 00:52:35.719
then they can be as sure of God's present working

849
00:52:35.719 --> 00:52:37.039
in the present. I don't know.

850
00:52:38.599 --> 00:52:43.920
I want to read the first nine verses. Now, Joshua

851
00:52:43.920 --> 00:52:47.719
was right after deuterana Eh. Now after the death of Moses,

852
00:52:47.760 --> 00:52:49.440
the servant of the Lord, it came to pass at

853
00:52:49.440 --> 00:52:55.039
the Lord's spake unto Joshua, the son of Nun Moses minister, saying, Moses,

854
00:52:55.119 --> 00:52:59.039
my servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan,

855
00:52:59.159 --> 00:53:01.119
now on all this people, unto the land which I

856
00:53:01.199 --> 00:53:04.320
give to them, even to the children of Israel, every

857
00:53:04.440 --> 00:53:06.559
place that the soul of your foot shall tread upon

858
00:53:06.599 --> 00:53:09.599
that I have given unto you, as I said, unto Moses,

859
00:53:09.599 --> 00:53:12.920
from the wilderness and this Lebanon, even unto the great river,

860
00:53:13.079 --> 00:53:15.880
the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and

861
00:53:15.960 --> 00:53:18.719
unto the great sea towards the going down to the

862
00:53:18.760 --> 00:53:22.079
Sun shall be your coast. There shall not any man

863
00:53:22.119 --> 00:53:24.159
be able to stand before THEE all the days of

864
00:53:24.199 --> 00:53:24.719
thy life.

865
00:53:25.039 --> 00:53:27.920
As I was with Moses, so I will be with THEE.

866
00:53:28.000 --> 00:53:31.320
I will not fail THEE, nor forsafe THEE be strong

867
00:53:31.519 --> 00:53:34.280
and of a good courage. Fronto this people, shalt thou

868
00:53:34.320 --> 00:53:38.039
divide for an inheritance to land, which I swear unto

869
00:53:38.119 --> 00:53:41.800
their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and

870
00:53:42.159 --> 00:53:45.559
very courageous, that thou mayst observed to do according to

871
00:53:45.599 --> 00:53:48.840
all the law which Moses, my servant commanded. THEE turn

872
00:53:48.920 --> 00:53:51.400
not from it to the right or to the left,

873
00:53:51.440 --> 00:53:55.760
that thou mayst prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of

874
00:53:55.800 --> 00:53:57.920
the law shall not depart out of thy mouth. But

875
00:53:57.960 --> 00:54:02.079
thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayst

876
00:54:02.119 --> 00:54:04.440
observe to do according to all that is written therein.

877
00:54:04.960 --> 00:54:08.239
For then thou shalt make that way prosperous, and then

878
00:54:08.320 --> 00:54:11.280
thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee

879
00:54:11.719 --> 00:54:13.320
be strong and have a good courage.

880
00:54:13.760 --> 00:54:15.239
Be not afraid, neither.

881
00:54:15.079 --> 00:54:19.280
Be the host made for the Lord thy God is

882
00:54:19.639 --> 00:54:22.440
with THEE with whatsoever thou goest.

883
00:54:25.559 --> 00:54:27.960
Now, Notice as he read this, and he didn't stop

884
00:54:28.000 --> 00:54:31.320
to emphasize this, but I was just like, Oh, this

885
00:54:31.360 --> 00:54:34.480
is so important. Verse six of Joshua Win six. Be

886
00:54:34.519 --> 00:54:41.679
strong enough, good courage, for unto this people, shalt thou

887
00:54:41.760 --> 00:54:44.280
divide for an inheritance to the land, which I swear

888
00:54:44.400 --> 00:54:51.400
unto their fathers to give them again. You're going to

889
00:54:51.440 --> 00:55:00.280
a passage specifically for Israel. I don't understand anymore. I

890
00:55:00.280 --> 00:55:04.519
don't understand. I don't understand. I mean, And what's the

891
00:55:04.559 --> 00:55:08.800
whole basis here is Deuteronomy twenty eight twenty nine thirty.

892
00:55:09.079 --> 00:55:11.280
If you do good, boom, you get blessings. If you

893
00:55:11.320 --> 00:55:14.360
do bad, you get curses. And what happens while living

894
00:55:14.480 --> 00:55:17.719
under a law, the system of the law, they're never

895
00:55:17.800 --> 00:55:21.159
going to do good to the standard which God demands,

896
00:55:21.159 --> 00:55:23.360
which is perfection. So they're going to fall, and they're

897
00:55:23.360 --> 00:55:25.599
going to fall, and they're going to fall, and they're

898
00:55:25.599 --> 00:55:27.280
going to fall, and they end up with the curses

899
00:55:27.280 --> 00:55:29.960
and the curses and the curses because if you live yourself,

900
00:55:30.039 --> 00:55:32.719
if you place yourself under the law, you will only

901
00:55:32.760 --> 00:55:34.960
get the curses. Because we cannot obey the law. We

902
00:55:35.000 --> 00:55:37.239
cannot keep the law before we're saved, and we cannot

903
00:55:37.239 --> 00:55:40.840
obey and keep the law after we're saved. Therefore we

904
00:55:40.920 --> 00:55:43.800
need Christ, who keeps it perfectly. And then his obedience

905
00:55:43.840 --> 00:55:47.320
is imputed to my account by faith alone. But you know,

906
00:55:48.199 --> 00:55:51.519
at this point I'm well, we'll just see. I don't

907
00:55:51.519 --> 00:55:52.960
even know what is happening anymore.

908
00:55:56.960 --> 00:56:02.760
Moses has passed off the scene, his protege, his younger.

909
00:56:04.199 --> 00:56:09.000
It says Moses, Minister Joshua has been chosen by God

910
00:56:09.599 --> 00:56:16.760
to assume the mantle of leadership, and as most every

911
00:56:17.000 --> 00:56:19.599
young man does. And I suppose that's probably the way

912
00:56:19.639 --> 00:56:22.480
brother Marcus feels. It's the way I felt when that

913
00:56:22.639 --> 00:56:30.719
call came. We feel so small, we feel inadequate. It's

914
00:56:32.039 --> 00:56:34.119
there's so much work to do, we'll never get it

915
00:56:34.159 --> 00:56:34.559
all done.

916
00:56:34.639 --> 00:56:35.199
And it's.

917
00:56:36.840 --> 00:56:38.360
I have no idea what this has to do with

918
00:56:38.440 --> 00:56:41.719
Isaiah forty three. I literally have no idea. I have

919
00:56:41.840 --> 00:56:43.599
no idea what it this has to do with Isaiah

920
00:56:43.679 --> 00:56:54.920
forty three. Literally none, I am. I don't understand. I

921
00:56:55.000 --> 00:56:56.400
don't understand.

922
00:56:57.519 --> 00:57:02.719
To work larger than our abilities, of our own strength.

923
00:57:03.559 --> 00:57:07.199
And I think that's the way Joshua felt. Now, let's

924
00:57:07.199 --> 00:57:11.440
look at this just a little deeper. In verse five, especially,

925
00:57:11.599 --> 00:57:16.599
I pick up this thought again. God is talking to Joshua,

926
00:57:17.719 --> 00:57:22.239
and specifically to Joshua in a personal sense, and God says,

927
00:57:23.079 --> 00:57:25.519
there shall not any man be able to stand before

928
00:57:25.599 --> 00:57:28.360
thee all the days of thy life, as I was

929
00:57:28.519 --> 00:57:34.199
with Moses, so I will be with THEE. I will

930
00:57:34.320 --> 00:57:38.599
not fail THEE nor forsake THEE. If you would have

931
00:57:38.599 --> 00:57:41.800
been in Joshua's shoes and you'd hear God himself saying

932
00:57:41.880 --> 00:57:44.880
that to you, it'd be like putting.

933
00:57:46.119 --> 00:57:51.039
A match to a pile of wood that has gas

934
00:57:51.079 --> 00:57:53.119
on it. Be explosive.

935
00:57:53.519 --> 00:57:56.280
It just take off, and no man could quench it

936
00:57:56.320 --> 00:58:02.039
at that moment, and Joshua needed that affirmation. God said, Joshua,

937
00:58:02.440 --> 00:58:05.519
be of good courage. I'm going to be with you.

938
00:58:09.199 --> 00:58:11.960
I need to know. I need to embrace that fact.

939
00:58:13.199 --> 00:58:18.000
We all need to embrace that fact. God is with me.

940
00:58:19.360 --> 00:58:22.599
And when God is with me, you become a team.

941
00:58:23.039 --> 00:58:25.599
The two of you make up a force that is

942
00:58:25.760 --> 00:58:31.199
unstoppable by the gates of Hell, and you cannot be stopped. Joshua,

943
00:58:32.000 --> 00:58:34.960
I have already said. After this, he went on a tear.

944
00:58:35.199 --> 00:58:40.960
Thirty one kings were defeated because one man heard from God,

945
00:58:41.239 --> 00:58:43.960
I'm with you, and there shall not any man be

946
00:58:44.039 --> 00:58:46.440
able to stand before the all the days of thy life.

947
00:58:48.639 --> 00:58:51.039
He didn't go on a tear because he heard this.

948
00:58:51.480 --> 00:58:55.519
He had victory because God promised them victory based off

949
00:58:55.519 --> 00:58:57.760
the covenant that he had made with them that they

950
00:58:57.760 --> 00:59:02.760
would get the land. It's not the success is not

951
00:59:02.800 --> 00:59:05.360
on Joshua. The success is on God's covenant.

952
00:59:05.360 --> 00:59:10.119
But okay, now you talk about victory. None of us

953
00:59:10.159 --> 00:59:12.679
want to talk about defeat. None of us enjoy being

954
00:59:12.800 --> 00:59:14.559
unsuccessful in the Christian life.

955
00:59:14.599 --> 00:59:16.360
And if you want to get a hold with both.

956
00:59:16.159 --> 00:59:19.920
Hands on victory in your Christian life, you must embrace

957
00:59:20.119 --> 00:59:22.559
the concept God is with you.

958
00:59:22.840 --> 00:59:26.000
He will not forsake you. I get all fired up

959
00:59:26.039 --> 00:59:26.719
by that thought.

960
00:59:27.280 --> 00:59:30.199
It's not a bragging thing unless we brag on God,

961
00:59:30.280 --> 00:59:31.199
which we want to do.

962
00:59:32.320 --> 00:59:35.440
But I feel so small and insignificant. That's the way

963
00:59:35.559 --> 00:59:39.880
Joshua felt. But God said, Joshua, I'll be with you,

964
00:59:41.039 --> 00:59:42.239
and I will help you.

965
00:59:42.800 --> 00:59:46.519
And he says be strong and be very courageous.

966
00:59:47.760 --> 00:59:48.719
Oh.

967
00:59:48.840 --> 00:59:51.519
These words were also spoken by David to Solomon.

968
00:59:54.440 --> 00:59:58.679
Yeah, that worked out really good with Solomon. That worked

969
00:59:58.719 --> 01:00:01.599
out really good with Solomon. Right, God was with him

970
01:00:02.000 --> 01:00:05.280
while he was sleeping with woman after woman after woman

971
01:00:05.440 --> 01:00:09.599
after woman. One hundred, two hundred, three hundred, four hundred,

972
01:00:09.719 --> 01:00:14.039
five hundred, six hundred, seven hundred, eight hundred, nine hundred. Okay,

973
01:00:14.199 --> 01:00:16.480
I worked out. Oh, and the Kingdom was divided worked

974
01:00:16.480 --> 01:00:21.480
out really good. Oh, God was with David worked out

975
01:00:21.519 --> 01:00:24.800
really good. So just know that God is with you

976
01:00:24.880 --> 01:00:30.639
doesn't guarantee then victory or success because oh, I don't

977
01:00:30.639 --> 01:00:32.119
know what any of this has to do with Isaiah

978
01:00:32.199 --> 01:00:36.000
forty three. I'm just going to stop right there. Or

979
01:00:36.000 --> 01:00:38.480
an hour, we could go further, but I think I

980
01:00:38.480 --> 01:00:40.920
think the AI is already demonstrated. He's just going to

981
01:00:40.960 --> 01:00:43.559
go to all these other stories that have nothing to

982
01:00:43.599 --> 01:00:45.719
do with Isaiah forty three in any wayship for him,

983
01:00:45.719 --> 01:00:48.760
there's no textual connection. There's no there's no connection.

984
01:00:49.199 --> 01:00:49.559
He just.

985
01:00:54.440 --> 01:00:57.920
Ladies and gentlemen. I don't understand. Can someone explain to me?

986
01:00:58.320 --> 01:01:03.360
Is there some like cloud over Isaiah forty through fifty

987
01:01:03.360 --> 01:01:05.559
five that makes it impossible for us to see through?

988
01:01:05.719 --> 01:01:10.159
But we can be left with this question, what is

989
01:01:10.199 --> 01:01:14.400
the evidence of God's presence in your life? What is

990
01:01:14.440 --> 01:01:18.079
the evidence of God's presence in your life? I would

991
01:01:18.079 --> 01:01:20.760
not point to subjective feelings. I would not even I

992
01:01:20.760 --> 01:01:25.159
would not point to subjective feelings or objective circumstances that

993
01:01:25.280 --> 01:01:28.400
surround you or your experiencing. I do not think God's

994
01:01:28.400 --> 01:01:32.719
presence in your life is proven by subjective feelings or

995
01:01:33.039 --> 01:01:37.920
objective circumstances which you encounter. Neither are proof of God's

996
01:01:37.960 --> 01:01:43.159
presence in your life, all right, but you can work

997
01:01:43.239 --> 01:01:49.480
on that. All right. There you go. If you would

998
01:01:49.639 --> 01:01:51.360
like to listen to that sermon, it's called the Fourth Man,

999
01:01:51.440 --> 01:01:53.559
please go listen to the rest of it. We listened

1000
01:01:53.599 --> 01:01:55.880
to them, but there's only about twenty four minutes I

1001
01:01:55.920 --> 01:01:58.440
think left of the sermon, about twenty four minutes, so

1002
01:01:58.719 --> 01:02:01.039
you take the end, they'll probably say, so, you're probably

1003
01:02:01.079 --> 01:02:04.119
about about about twenty minutes of actual teaching left. And

1004
01:02:04.199 --> 01:02:05.599
it looks like he's just going to go from all

1005
01:02:05.639 --> 01:02:08.559
these biblical characters. Then somehow the Fourth Man is going

1006
01:02:08.599 --> 01:02:10.639
to be connected to someone in Daniel. I don't even

1007
01:02:10.679 --> 01:02:15.480
know what's going on there. Somehow that afit's Diesiah forty three.

1008
01:02:15.599 --> 01:02:20.679
I give up, all right, Well, that's another example of

1009
01:02:20.800 --> 01:02:24.960
why we're doing discern this study in Isaiah forty to

1010
01:02:25.079 --> 01:02:28.880
fifty five. All that did to me was confirm once

1011
01:02:28.920 --> 01:02:34.079
again why we're doing it. Thanks for listening. Have a

1012
01:02:34.079 --> 01:02:35.960
good day, God bless