April 6, 2025

Words vs Methods: Isaiah 50:7 Pt 1

Words vs Methods: Isaiah 50:7 Pt 1

A case study in how the words many churches say contradict the actual methods they are using

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

A case study in how the words many churches say contradict the actual methods they are using

WEBVTT

1
00:00:02.200 --> 00:00:05.960
Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

2
00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:12.839
the Theology Central podcast, making Theology Central. Well, well, well,

3
00:00:13.080 --> 00:00:19.760
it seems that my last two broadcasts didn't make everyone happy.

4
00:00:20.039 --> 00:00:23.320
In fact, it seems it may have upset a few

5
00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:27.960
people who didn't really like what I was attempting to do.

6
00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:31.079
I think in some ways they may have missed the point.

7
00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:34.679
I stated it over and over and over again that

8
00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:37.320
what I was trying to do was build a case

9
00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:43.679
study where we have pastors who say one thing. They

10
00:00:43.799 --> 00:00:47.240
kind of market the church, sell the church by saying

11
00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:51.880
all the right words. They sound spiritual, they sound scriptural,

12
00:00:51.960 --> 00:00:57.399
they sound philological. But once you turn away from their words,

13
00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:00.280
you turn away from the marketing, and then you look

14
00:01:00.280 --> 00:01:04.079
at what the church actually does and practice what it

15
00:01:04.280 --> 00:01:10.040
actually is. There's a big disconnect. I stated it over

16
00:01:10.079 --> 00:01:12.159
and over this It was not designed to be a

17
00:01:12.280 --> 00:01:18.000
hit piece or an expose or attacking personalities. It was like, wait,

18
00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:21.400
here's this interview where this pastor says all these things

19
00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:24.599
that sound so very good. But when I went and

20
00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:30.599
looked up the church, what I found was the complete opposite.

21
00:01:31.200 --> 00:01:34.719
Why does that keep happening? Why is that happening? How

22
00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:38.239
is it happening. I was trying to ask these deeper questions,

23
00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:41.319
but it seems that some of you definitely did not

24
00:01:41.599 --> 00:01:44.879
like what I was attempting to do. But here we are.

25
00:01:45.959 --> 00:01:49.159
Now we're even though people don't like it. I'm going

26
00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:52.439
to press forward because I think now we come well

27
00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:55.879
to the real issue, and we will do that right

28
00:01:55.920 --> 00:02:01.640
after I say good morning everyone. It is Sunday, April sixth,

29
00:02:01.799 --> 00:02:05.799
twenty twenty five. It is currently eight thirty one am

30
00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:08.919
Central time, and I'm coming to you live from the

31
00:02:08.919 --> 00:02:16.639
Theology Central Studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Today

32
00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:23.360
this morning we arrive I guess what we will call

33
00:02:23.919 --> 00:02:28.719
at the moment where the words must meet the reality.

34
00:02:30.120 --> 00:02:34.280
And our last two episodes we walked through a carefully

35
00:02:34.919 --> 00:02:40.080
constructed image. We had a pastor sitting down for an interview,

36
00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:43.120
and what I felt he was giving a very carefully

37
00:02:43.159 --> 00:02:48.919
constructed image of what his church is supposedly like, what

38
00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:53.520
it really is about, and he clearly distinguished himself from

39
00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:58.520
other megachurches. He was different. He doesn't like watered down

40
00:02:58.599 --> 00:03:01.479
ted talks. He likes to reach the meat of the word,

41
00:03:02.199 --> 00:03:04.840
and he doesn't want to starve the people by just

42
00:03:04.919 --> 00:03:07.240
giving them chicken nuggets and all of these other things,

43
00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:09.560
and it sounded so good. Now even in the interview,

44
00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:13.800
things begin to fall apart, and we took that interview apart,

45
00:03:14.039 --> 00:03:15.960
and then we went to the church website and found

46
00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:18.719
ourselves with all kinds of problems. So I think we

47
00:03:18.919 --> 00:03:23.719
walked through what is a carefully constructed image the interview

48
00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:26.759
where the pastor said all the right things about God,

49
00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:28.919
he said all the right things about the Bible. He

50
00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:33.000
even said all the right things about preaching. We explored

51
00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:39.199
the church's public face, it's branding, it's website, it's mission statement,

52
00:03:39.319 --> 00:03:43.479
and some people I don't think like this. The staggering

53
00:03:43.560 --> 00:03:46.479
financial data, which I'm still trying to wrap my mind

54
00:03:46.520 --> 00:03:50.680
around the church in question about between nine and twelve

55
00:03:50.759 --> 00:03:55.800
thousand people attended every single week. They have an operating

56
00:03:55.840 --> 00:04:01.280
budget somewhere around thirty about twenty five to thirty million dollars.

57
00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:06.159
It's just it's crazy. But you know, now it's Sunday.

58
00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:09.520
All of that's over, the interviews, over the going through

59
00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:14.120
the website, all of it's over. Now it's Sunday. The

60
00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:19.199
doors are opening to the church, the lights are on,

61
00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:25.319
the smoke machines are humming, and we're going to church,

62
00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:30.639
not hypothetically, not from a press release or a Philosophy

63
00:04:30.759 --> 00:04:35.279
of Ministry podcast. We're going to walk into the church

64
00:04:35.480 --> 00:04:39.920
itself on a real Sunday morning, and I want you

65
00:04:39.959 --> 00:04:43.120
to picture it. We're going to step into a modern,

66
00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:49.199
spacious auditorium. The lighting is professionally designed, the screens are

67
00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:52.079
alive with motion, and there's a buzz in the air

68
00:04:52.279 --> 00:04:54.639
that feels maybe more like a ted talk or a

69
00:04:54.680 --> 00:05:02.279
concert than a sacred gathering. The music fades, the stage

70
00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:06.839
is cleared. The pastor steps up, Bible in hand, or

71
00:05:06.920 --> 00:05:09.839
maybe the Bible is just the scripture is just going

72
00:05:09.879 --> 00:05:12.720
to be on the screen, Okay, but just imagine a

73
00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:17.680
Bible is in their hand, and he's going to begin

74
00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:25.600
his sermon. The text for this morning Isaiah, chapter fifty,

75
00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:31.279
verse seven, This we are told will be the foundation.

76
00:05:32.120 --> 00:05:35.360
This will be the spiritual mill. Because he doesn't give

77
00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:39.000
us chicken nuggets. He's going to give us an actual

78
00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:44.360
spiritual mill. This, as he says, will be the voice

79
00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:47.680
of God through his word, brought to us by a

80
00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:52.199
man who says he's committed to expository preaching, to spiritual

81
00:05:52.279 --> 00:05:57.120
nourishment and defeating the sheep. So we're going to listen carefully.

82
00:05:58.079 --> 00:06:00.759
I'm going to do my very best nut be cynical,

83
00:06:01.800 --> 00:06:04.959
but I am going to try to be discerning. I

84
00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:09.079
have no personal bias, but I am going to do this.

85
00:06:09.240 --> 00:06:12.199
I'm going to open my bibles and open my eyes.

86
00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:19.279
What does this sermon really say? Is Isaiah chapter fifty

87
00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:25.879
verse seven proclaimed or is it repurposed repackaged? Is Christ

88
00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:33.519
exalted or is he eclipsed? Is Christ seen or is

89
00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:39.560
Christ replaced by you and me? Does the message align

90
00:06:39.879 --> 00:06:45.000
with the theology, with the claims and the convictions we've

91
00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:50.319
already heard in the interview. So this morning, we're going

92
00:06:50.360 --> 00:06:55.959
to church. In fact, we're going to Indianapolis, Indiana, and

93
00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:59.240
we're going to pull into the parking lot of Trader's

94
00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:04.720
Point Christian Church. Between nine to twelve thousand people attend

95
00:07:05.160 --> 00:07:12.839
every single week. Twenty five million dollars. But basically what

96
00:07:12.920 --> 00:07:15.480
it takes to make the church work, they bring in

97
00:07:15.879 --> 00:07:19.879
over thirty million. They have a four million dollar surplus.

98
00:07:20.600 --> 00:07:22.839
But we're gonna try to forget about the money. We're

99
00:07:22.839 --> 00:07:25.759
gonna forget about the branding. We're gonna forget about the marketing.

100
00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:28.720
I am going to remember all the things the pastor

101
00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:35.360
said about preaching and how his church is different. So

102
00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:38.000
let's take our seats. Come on, be quiet, Come on, everyone,

103
00:07:38.040 --> 00:07:40.199
be quiet. All right, we're in church now. Okay, all right,

104
00:07:40.600 --> 00:07:44.879
we gotta pay attention. Open our bibles. We may be

105
00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:47.199
the only ones carrying them. Okay, I'm joking. That was

106
00:07:47.480 --> 00:07:51.199
that was joking. Right, Let's take our seats. Ssh be quiet,

107
00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:56.560
open our bibles. It's time for church.

108
00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:01.480
Well, good to be everybody today is we get ready

109
00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:05.920
to weather the great snowstorm of twenty twenty five. Hey,

110
00:08:05.959 --> 00:08:08.720
it wouldn't be January in Indiana without one, So I

111
00:08:08.759 --> 00:08:10.120
don't know. It kind of kind of feels like par

112
00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:12.279
for the course. But I'm glad you guys are here.

113
00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:15.040
I want to welcome everybody across all of our locations

114
00:08:15.079 --> 00:08:19.279
in online. Today's message is just going to be an extremely,

115
00:08:19.639 --> 00:08:23.319
extremely practical message to kick off the brand new year.

116
00:08:23.800 --> 00:08:25.639
And at the end of today's message, we're going to

117
00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:28.399
take communion together across all of our locations. So just

118
00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:30.079
right now, I just want to encourage you to, if

119
00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:33.120
you don't have that already, grab a communion cup to

120
00:08:33.159 --> 00:08:35.720
be ready to participate with us here in just a

121
00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:39.159
few moments, but it's hard to believe that it's twenty

122
00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:43.600
twenty five. Can anybody else believe that we are officially

123
00:08:43.639 --> 00:08:45.879
a quarter of a way through this century? That's one

124
00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:47.799
way to think about it, which makes me feel really old.

125
00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:51.080
And I don't know how you're feeling about a new year.

126
00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:53.440
I don't know if you're kind of like the bandwagon

127
00:08:53.559 --> 00:08:56.480
like new Year's resolutions goal setting, like you're super super

128
00:08:56.480 --> 00:08:59.960
excited about it, or if maybe you're a little bit say,

129
00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:02.919
and you've got some doubts and you're just totally like

130
00:09:03.080 --> 00:09:05.759
not a new Year's resolution person. I can kind of

131
00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:08.360
understand that as well. But what I want to invite

132
00:09:08.440 --> 00:09:12.279
you into is to do a little bit of evaluation

133
00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:15.200
as to what we just came out of the last

134
00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:17.120
twelve months and then what we're kind of entering into.

135
00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:21.159
I typically do that between Christmas and New Year's those

136
00:09:21.159 --> 00:09:23.679
five to seven days. I'll just spend a little bit

137
00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:27.919
of time reflecting upon the previous year and then getting

138
00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:29.799
my heart ready for the year to come.

139
00:09:32.279 --> 00:09:34.679
Now, a couple of things, right as we start here, Okay,

140
00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:37.440
now we got we got to do our review quietly?

141
00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:40.159
Could we don't want to disturb everyone during the sermon. Okay, now,

142
00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:42.639
obviously we can do whatever we want. We're going to

143
00:09:42.679 --> 00:09:45.679
be allowed. All right, here we go. Now, now I

144
00:09:45.720 --> 00:09:47.480
know he hasn't given us the text yet, but just

145
00:09:47.559 --> 00:09:50.559
remember this is a sermon supposedly on Isaiah chapter fifty,

146
00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:52.919
verse seven, and I just want you to see because

147
00:09:52.919 --> 00:09:54.960
it may you may not even catch it. It may

148
00:09:55.360 --> 00:09:58.120
may be subtle to you. This is starting with what

149
00:09:59.080 --> 00:10:03.279
the focus on us? US, A new year, us US,

150
00:10:03.320 --> 00:10:06.399
how we do things us. It's about us. So it's

151
00:10:06.759 --> 00:10:11.840
we're already being exalted as the focal point here. Now

152
00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:14.639
when he opens the Bible to Isaiah fifty seven, is

153
00:10:14.679 --> 00:10:17.720
it gonna switch that the focal point is on something else?

154
00:10:17.960 --> 00:10:21.559
Because if we're in Isaiah fifty, just from a historical perspective,

155
00:10:21.639 --> 00:10:24.200
the focal point can no longer be us. It has

156
00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:26.679
to be the people Isaiah fifty would be written to,

157
00:10:26.919 --> 00:10:29.919
and that's the people in Babylonian captivity who needs words

158
00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:32.639
of comfort. Because from Isaiah forty to Isaiah fifty five,

159
00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:35.080
it is the book of comfort. So it's gonna have

160
00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:37.879
to stop being about us in twenty twenty five because

161
00:10:38.039 --> 00:10:40.120
Isaiah fifty has nothing to do with you in twenty

162
00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:45.360
twenty twenty five, twenty twenty twenty five, twenty twenty five, right, however,

163
00:10:45.720 --> 00:10:48.080
the way you correctly say it, right, I don't know

164
00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:50.879
how many twenties I'm putting in there twenty twenty five.

165
00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:54.120
So already I'm a little I'm a little concerned. And

166
00:10:54.159 --> 00:10:57.200
does it not just I know as much as the interview.

167
00:10:57.480 --> 00:10:59.159
In his interview, he tried to make it sound like

168
00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:01.279
that they are, you know, somehow different than all the

169
00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:04.840
other megachurches. To me, it sounds just like every other megachurch.

170
00:11:06.440 --> 00:11:10.840
It just sounds the same. Has everything just fills the same.

171
00:11:10.919 --> 00:11:15.279
It just I mean, it's just the same manufactured copy

172
00:11:15.320 --> 00:11:18.720
and paste template for a church. It sounds the same.

173
00:11:19.240 --> 00:11:21.879
May but maybe I'm good going to be very very

174
00:11:21.960 --> 00:11:24.879
very very wrong. So we're going to find out. So

175
00:11:25.080 --> 00:11:28.320
sh he's preaching let's be quiet.

176
00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:31.840
And as I was doing that this last week, one

177
00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:34.360
of the things that I just really began think through

178
00:11:35.039 --> 00:11:37.720
was overall, like twenty twenty four was I would just

179
00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:40.159
put that as like a really really good year, like

180
00:11:40.200 --> 00:11:45.200
for me personally, but not without some adversity. And one

181
00:11:45.240 --> 00:11:48.600
of the things that I just was reflecting upon is

182
00:11:48.600 --> 00:11:50.480
that there were some high highs, and there were some

183
00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:53.440
low lows maybe for you too. And here's the thing

184
00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:56.480
that the two had in common is that I didn't

185
00:11:56.519 --> 00:12:02.279
see the highs coming, and I didn't necessarily anticipate the

186
00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:05.200
lows or didn't see them coming. In fact, there were

187
00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:06.840
many things that happened, and I'm just like, man, those

188
00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:08.679
are such blessings. I don't know that I deserve it.

189
00:12:08.840 --> 00:12:11.200
And then there are some bad things, some really discouraging

190
00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:13.720
things that happened that I didn't see coming as well.

191
00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:16.360
Now here's what it initially did to me. And I'm

192
00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:18.799
just being confessional with you, and I'm trusting that some

193
00:12:18.840 --> 00:12:20.879
of you will be able to relate to me. Because

194
00:12:20.919 --> 00:12:24.960
of that, I found myself kind of gingerly inching into

195
00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:27.720
this year, like, well, you know, if that was true

196
00:12:27.919 --> 00:12:29.879
in the past twelve months, and actually that was true

197
00:12:29.879 --> 00:12:32.279
in twenty twenty three and twenty twenty two and twenty

198
00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:35.120
twenty one, that probably in twenty twenty five there's going

199
00:12:35.159 --> 00:12:38.919
to be some unexpected blessing, some high highs, and some

200
00:12:39.080 --> 00:12:42.399
unexpected challenges, some low lows. And so I found myself

201
00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:45.960
kind of like posturing, like almost like red like trying

202
00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:48.279
to like figure out how can I enter into the

203
00:12:48.360 --> 00:12:52.080
year to try to maximize the good and minimize the

204
00:12:52.080 --> 00:12:53.919
bad so I can net an overall good year at

205
00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:56.840
the end of the year. And really what that spelling

206
00:12:57.159 --> 00:13:01.840
is control, if I'm being honest, and a lack of

207
00:13:01.960 --> 00:13:06.600
trust in the sovereignty of God, because there isn't anything

208
00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:09.759
that really like, there's so many circumstances that are outside

209
00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:12.279
of our control, both the good and the bad. And really,

210
00:13:12.360 --> 00:13:14.679
what I want to do is, I don't want to

211
00:13:14.679 --> 00:13:18.960
try to live my life in the absence of adversity.

212
00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:22.159
I want to try to live my life so that

213
00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:25.679
I can face adversity well. And so I want to

214
00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:29.159
be like surefooted and recognize that good or bad, whatever

215
00:13:29.240 --> 00:13:31.600
may come, I'm going to trust like the sovereignty of

216
00:13:31.639 --> 00:13:34.679
God in that. And it's an unfortunate truth, but it

217
00:13:34.759 --> 00:13:37.480
is true that when I look back at my life,

218
00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:40.840
the times when I've grown the most spiritually and emotionally

219
00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:44.799
and even in other ways like physically, has been through adversity,

220
00:13:44.840 --> 00:13:48.799
not around it. And so actually adversity, when you're surefooted,

221
00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:51.519
can become a blessing. And so what I want to

222
00:13:51.600 --> 00:13:55.000
encourage you with is just simply these truths right here.

223
00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:00.559
We talked about this and are storms of life. Hey,

224
00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:03.440
you go through horrible things, but isn't it great because

225
00:14:03.480 --> 00:14:06.200
you always come out better and stronger and it's good

226
00:14:06.279 --> 00:14:09.879
and this is the way you grow. Adversity is wonderful.

227
00:14:10.159 --> 00:14:13.200
Now again that I mean, Christians love to say that,

228
00:14:13.320 --> 00:14:16.679
Pastors love to teach that. I always get a little

229
00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:20.240
bothered by that because you know, oh, you were molested

230
00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:22.879
for fifteen years, Well, goods, what isn't it great? You

231
00:14:22.919 --> 00:14:25.200
went through that adversity and it makes you better, and

232
00:14:25.240 --> 00:14:27.799
it makes you stronger, it makes you wonderful. Oh you

233
00:14:27.879 --> 00:14:31.039
were abused for ten years, Well that's wonderful and that's great.

234
00:14:31.159 --> 00:14:33.679
Oh you've got a terminal disease and you're going to

235
00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:36.600
die in a year, Well that's wonderful. You're gonna be stronger,

236
00:14:36.600 --> 00:14:38.799
you're gonna be better, you're gonna be more spiritual. We

237
00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:44.600
always grow through adversity. I mean, like you've got to

238
00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:47.240
kinda don't you have to kind of qualify that? And

239
00:14:47.720 --> 00:14:51.159
to some level, don't you have to kind of I mean, hey,

240
00:14:51.240 --> 00:14:53.000
you're going through a bad year, Well that's good. You're

241
00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:56.879
gonna grow. You're gonna grow, You're gonna come out better. Now,

242
00:14:57.000 --> 00:14:59.720
I think we always tell ourselves we're gonna come out better.

243
00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:01.559
I mean, there's a lot we could talk about it.

244
00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:03.320
I'm not going to get into that because I'm still waiting,

245
00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:07.000
because you know, this is a sermon about Isaiah, chapter fifty,

246
00:15:07.080 --> 00:15:10.440
verse seven. And he's not like other pastors. He doesn't

247
00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:14.480
like water down ted talks. He likes expositional preaching. He

248
00:15:14.600 --> 00:15:18.279
likes to expound scripture. He likes to give people the meat. Okay,

249
00:15:18.360 --> 00:15:20.639
So so I mean I could sit there and take

250
00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:23.559
all of this apartment, we could get in philosophical discussions.

251
00:15:23.879 --> 00:15:26.559
I'm trying to get to where we are going. So

252
00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:28.000
let's find out where we're going.

253
00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:32.120
Is that God wants you to meditate, Satan wants you

254
00:15:32.120 --> 00:15:35.240
to ruminate. So God wants you to meditate on what

255
00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:37.000
it is that you've been through and kind of where

256
00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:39.159
things are headed, and Satan wants you to ruminate. Well,

257
00:15:39.159 --> 00:15:39.720
what's the difference.

258
00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:44.679
God wants you to meditate on where you've been, what

259
00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:46.960
you're going. Does God want you to meditate on where

260
00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:48.799
you ban where you're going, or does God want you

261
00:15:48.840 --> 00:15:50.840
to meditate on his word? What are you called to

262
00:15:50.879 --> 00:15:54.720
meditate on? In scripture? What are you called to meditate

263
00:15:54.759 --> 00:15:56.480
on it? Are you called to meditate on? Where you've

264
00:15:56.519 --> 00:15:59.120
been and where you're going? Are you? Are you called

265
00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:02.720
to meditate on in your life? What you're going? Does

266
00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:05.000
scripture and I give you what you're called to meditate on?

267
00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:08.000
Are you called to meditate on his word day and night?

268
00:16:08.120 --> 00:16:10.000
I think that's in the Bible. I could be wrong.

269
00:16:11.320 --> 00:16:13.679
Are we supposed to meditate on? You need to sit

270
00:16:13.720 --> 00:16:15.879
back and meditate on where you've been and where you're

271
00:16:15.879 --> 00:16:18.519
going and what you've gone through. That seems to be

272
00:16:18.679 --> 00:16:21.919
very self focused. So God wants you to meditate on

273
00:16:22.200 --> 00:16:24.559
He didn't say meditate on God's word. You're supposed to

274
00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:27.559
meditate on these other things, But Satan wants you to ruminate.

275
00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:31.240
You're supposed to meditate. Satan wants you to ruminate. I don't.

276
00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:33.480
Is there a scripture that says Satan wants me to ruminate?

277
00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:37.519
I mean he's saying this is as these are dogmatic assertions.

278
00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:41.799
Does the Bible say Satan roams about? Is a roaring

279
00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:45.399
line trying to get you to ruminate? Is Satan going?

280
00:16:45.559 --> 00:16:48.240
Is Satan's strategy? Hey guys, we've got to get these

281
00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:50.559
people to ruminate because we don't want them to meditate

282
00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:52.759
on where they've been and where they're going. We've got

283
00:16:52.759 --> 00:16:54.879
to get them to ruminate. I mean, I didn't even

284
00:16:54.879 --> 00:16:58.200
know this was a satanic strategy. I'm going to back

285
00:16:58.240 --> 00:17:01.159
that up just a little bit because I want you

286
00:17:01.240 --> 00:17:01.759
to hear.

287
00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:07.079
That, because there isn't anything that really like, there's so

288
00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:09.559
many circumstances that are outside of our control, both the

289
00:17:09.559 --> 00:17:11.839
good and the bad. And really, what I want to

290
00:17:11.880 --> 00:17:14.319
do is I don't want to try to live my

291
00:17:14.440 --> 00:17:19.680
life in the absence of adversity. I want to try

292
00:17:19.720 --> 00:17:23.279
to live my life so that I can face adversity well.

293
00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:26.960
And so I want to be like surefooted and recognize

294
00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:28.960
that good or bad, whatever may come, I'm going to

295
00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:31.880
trust like the sovereignty of God in that. And it's

296
00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:35.039
an unfortunate truth, but it is true that when I

297
00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:37.880
look back at my life, the times when I've grown

298
00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:41.519
the most spiritually and emotionally and even in other ways

299
00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:45.200
like physically, has been through adversity, not around it. And

300
00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:49.039
so actually adversity, when you're surefooted, can become a blessing.

301
00:17:49.640 --> 00:17:52.160
And so what I want to encourage you with is

302
00:17:52.200 --> 00:17:54.880
just simply these truths right here, is that God wants

303
00:17:54.920 --> 00:17:57.960
you to meditate. Satan wants you to ruminate. So God

304
00:17:58.039 --> 00:18:00.400
wants you to meditate on what it is you've been

305
00:18:00.440 --> 00:18:02.759
through and kind of where things are headed, and Satan

306
00:18:02.759 --> 00:18:04.960
wants you to ruminate. Well, what's the difference between the two. Well,

307
00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:08.640
one keeps you spinning on circumstances you can't change, and

308
00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:12.759
the other one gets you reminded of the truths of

309
00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:15.559
God's word and an unchanging God.

310
00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:20.519
Well, I guess he didn't. He said you will meditate

311
00:18:20.599 --> 00:18:22.319
on where you've been and where you're going, But it

312
00:18:22.359 --> 00:18:24.559
says one is going to keep you focused on God's

313
00:18:24.680 --> 00:18:27.759
unchanging word. Well, that means you're not meditating then on yourself.

314
00:18:27.799 --> 00:18:29.920
You're meditating on God's word. So that was kind of

315
00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:32.319
weird the way that was spoken. He seems to go

316
00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:34.720
back to, well, you're actually focusing on God's word. Now,

317
00:18:34.759 --> 00:18:37.279
that's one thing to say. God wants you to meditate

318
00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:40.839
on his word. Stop focusing on yourself, Stop focusing on

319
00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:44.680
where you've been and where you're going. Stop being self focused,

320
00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:49.160
and have a God focused perspective. Lift your eyes up,

321
00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:53.480
stop looking your start turning your eyes inwardly, stop looking

322
00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:57.160
to your circumstances and look to God. Okay, but it's

323
00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:00.759
weird because he that's that's just the way it seems like.

324
00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:03.160
He said, meditate on where you've been and where you're going.

325
00:19:03.240 --> 00:19:06.799
But then he kind of connected meditation with God's word.

326
00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:11.599
But however you want to deal with that. But again,

327
00:19:11.799 --> 00:19:13.960
all of this is really self focused. All of this

328
00:19:14.039 --> 00:19:16.960
is very focused on self, and it sounds very much

329
00:19:17.079 --> 00:19:19.640
like just kind of like a life coach giving you

330
00:19:19.720 --> 00:19:22.640
practical tips to you know, have your best life now.

331
00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:25.319
But that's how it's feeling to me. You can draw

332
00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:26.200
your own conclusion.

333
00:19:27.880 --> 00:19:30.680
One turns the attention upon you. The other turns the

334
00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:35.039
attention upon the only one ultimately powerful and sovereign enough

335
00:19:35.039 --> 00:19:37.519
to bring about real change. So at the beginning of

336
00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:40.559
a brand new year, let these words of Saint Augustine

337
00:19:40.759 --> 00:19:42.839
encourage you. I love how he writes this. He says,

338
00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:46.319
trust the past to God's mercy because you can't do

339
00:19:46.359 --> 00:19:49.039
anything to change it now. It's in the past. Trust

340
00:19:49.079 --> 00:19:53.759
the present to God's love. That the present moment that

341
00:19:53.799 --> 00:19:56.160
you are in, be fully present in that moment and

342
00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:59.200
recognize the gift that it is, that it's God's mercy

343
00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:01.640
and love and great upon you, and then trust the

344
00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:05.920
future to God's providence. And when it comes to.

345
00:20:06.200 --> 00:20:12.880
The oh Man, I want you to think about the

346
00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:19.039
words of Saint Augustine. He wrote, trust the past to

347
00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:24.039
the mercy of God, the presence, the present to his love,

348
00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:27.839
and the future to his providence. Didn't that sound so

349
00:20:28.200 --> 00:20:34.319
spiritual and so connected to historical Christianity, didn't it? Well,

350
00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:39.960
here's the only problem. Saint Augustine never said that. That's

351
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:45.519
completely fraudulent. So we're off to a great start. We're

352
00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:48.559
off to a great start. From what I can tell,

353
00:20:48.839 --> 00:20:52.960
this is a widely misattributed quote to Saint Augustine. There

354
00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:56.759
is no known source and Augustine's works that seem to

355
00:20:56.759 --> 00:21:01.039
contain the exact quote. It's often cited online and devotionals

356
00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:05.599
or from Christian speakers as a quote from Augustine, but

357
00:21:05.759 --> 00:21:08.920
it does not seem to appear in any verified Latin

358
00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:13.119
or English translation of his writings. And so now maybe

359
00:21:13.160 --> 00:21:16.359
it's somewhere, But from what I can look find, and

360
00:21:16.400 --> 00:21:18.680
I tried to do a little bit of research on this,

361
00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:21.559
it's not found in his confessions, it's not found in

362
00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:23.599
the City of God, it's not found on Grace and

363
00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:27.160
free will. It's not found in his letters and homilies.

364
00:21:27.400 --> 00:21:29.960
It's definitely not found. I can't remember the book that

365
00:21:29.960 --> 00:21:33.240
we were teaching through at Victory Baptist Church on Hermeneutics.

366
00:21:33.400 --> 00:21:38.079
We didn't find it there. So there's a I don't

367
00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:41.839
know where this comes from. Some say it's possible to

368
00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:45.759
quote as a modern summary or paraphrase, maybe inspired by

369
00:21:45.799 --> 00:21:49.319
general themes in Augustine's writings, but the wording itself cannot

370
00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:54.920
be found right. So I asked artificial intelligence, Hey, you

371
00:21:54.920 --> 00:21:57.559
know does this? You know what's going on here?

372
00:21:58.519 --> 00:21:58.720
Hey?

373
00:21:58.759 --> 00:22:01.920
I said this, and I quote. Augustine did write deeply

374
00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:06.680
about time memory in God's Sovereignty and Confessions. He absolutely

375
00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:11.079
spoke of God's mercy, love, and providence, but not in

376
00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:15.200
this tidy, three part slogan format that this quote presents.

377
00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:18.039
This quote is often used to bring comfort and clarity,

378
00:22:18.279 --> 00:22:22.240
and while it isn't necessarily heretical, it presents a cleaned

379
00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:26.640
up version of Augustine's complex theology that lacks nuance, it

380
00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:32.319
is also intention It also unintentionally suggests a therapeutic framing

381
00:22:32.359 --> 00:22:36.240
of God mercy for your regret, love for your now,

382
00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:39.599
and providence for your plans. This is more like a

383
00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:46.359
modern devotional sentiment than a patristic theology. So we're starting

384
00:22:46.359 --> 00:22:48.799
off great now. Remember he did the same thing in

385
00:22:48.839 --> 00:22:52.680
the interview, Remember his story about amazing grace and where

386
00:22:52.680 --> 00:22:58.440
the song came from. Completely fraudulent, fraudulent information in the interview.

387
00:22:58.839 --> 00:23:02.079
Now a completely made up quote by Augusta. And notice

388
00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:04.960
how he said it. Oh, I want you to think

389
00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:10.200
about this, this statement from Augustine. He wrote as almost

390
00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:14.079
as if he had read it, as he had the

391
00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:17.079
Book of Augustin right here in front of it, like

392
00:23:17.480 --> 00:23:20.279
just the way it stated. He stated it emphatically. He

393
00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:22.240
doesn't give a source, does he? No, he does not

394
00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:25.480
give a source, doesn't tell him which book he got

395
00:23:25.480 --> 00:23:28.240
it from. Now, most likely he got it from a

396
00:23:28.279 --> 00:23:32.240
devotional book that was supposedly quoting Augustine. And he didn't

397
00:23:32.359 --> 00:23:34.839
verify if the quote came from Augustine because he trusted

398
00:23:34.839 --> 00:23:37.559
the devotional book from which he found it. Most likely

399
00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:40.640
that is how it happens, because that quote, I've heard

400
00:23:40.680 --> 00:23:43.000
it in sermons, and I've seen it in the numerous

401
00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:46.599
devotional books. In fact, I could probably find one. I

402
00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:49.519
have to look, I may have one of them here

403
00:23:49.720 --> 00:23:52.799
around me. If I find it, I'll have to quote it.

404
00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:55.759
I probably can do some searching and find it, and

405
00:23:55.839 --> 00:23:59.119
then and the devotional books that it appears. But so

406
00:23:59.240 --> 00:24:02.200
wouldn't it be better to say? Wouldn't it be better

407
00:24:02.200 --> 00:24:04.720
to say? Some people say, I mean, you could do

408
00:24:04.759 --> 00:24:07.519
it this way, and I think, and sometimes I forget

409
00:24:07.559 --> 00:24:09.559
to do this. If I'm reading a book and it

410
00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:12.920
gives a quote from someone and I haven't verified it

411
00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:15.200
what I tried to and I don't always do this,

412
00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:20.000
but I try to do this. Some say Augustine said this,

413
00:24:20.519 --> 00:24:25.039
some say Luther said this, and I that's where I'm

414
00:24:25.039 --> 00:24:28.599
placing the focus on. Other people say that they said it,

415
00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:32.200
but I'm making it clear that I haven't verified it.

416
00:24:32.279 --> 00:24:35.119
That's an easy thing to do. That's an easy thing

417
00:24:35.160 --> 00:24:38.519
to do. I read this quote from Augustine in this book,

418
00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:41.440
but I have not verified it. The quote that I'm

419
00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:47.200
reading comes from page seven of this devotional or just

420
00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:49.680
something simple you don't have to go into great detail.

421
00:24:50.440 --> 00:24:54.079
So but again, the quote is trust the past to

422
00:24:54.160 --> 00:24:56.680
the mercy of God, the present to his love, and

423
00:24:56.720 --> 00:25:02.119
the future to his providence. Sounds so good, sounds so great.

424
00:25:02.880 --> 00:25:05.319
But all right, let's continue.

425
00:25:06.279 --> 00:25:09.400
Primary things that matter the most in your life and

426
00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:11.559
in my life. I would just kind of narrow it

427
00:25:11.559 --> 00:25:13.400
down to these four buckets. If you're taking notes, you

428
00:25:13.400 --> 00:25:16.480
can jot these things down. Your spiritual growth, like your

429
00:25:16.519 --> 00:25:18.359
walk with God. That should be the most important thing.

430
00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:21.759
Number two, your relationships and everything that would fit into

431
00:25:21.759 --> 00:25:26.440
that category dating, marriage, kids, family, co workers, your community.

432
00:25:26.960 --> 00:25:30.480
Number three your physical and emotional health. Those are important

433
00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:32.519
things because we are holistic beings. And then number four,

434
00:25:33.240 --> 00:25:36.440
your financial health because as scripture says that wherever your

435
00:25:36.440 --> 00:25:39.240
treasure is, your heart will follow. Those four things when

436
00:25:39.240 --> 00:25:44.200
it comes to spiritual growth, relationships, physical and emotional health,

437
00:25:44.599 --> 00:25:47.680
and your finances. Now, I think that for many of us,

438
00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:51.960
if we're being honest, in those four categories, we would

439
00:25:52.039 --> 00:25:56.759
say that too many times our strategy has been these

440
00:25:56.759 --> 00:26:00.240
two little words right here behind me. I hope. I

441
00:26:00.279 --> 00:26:03.240
hope I grow closer to God this year. Don't know

442
00:26:03.279 --> 00:26:05.359
if I will, but I hope, you know. I hope

443
00:26:05.599 --> 00:26:08.960
my marriage gets stronger. I hope I find and meet

444
00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:12.000
the right one. I hope my connection to my kids

445
00:26:12.480 --> 00:26:17.480
gets better. I hope I'll be in better shape physically, emotionally, financially.

446
00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:21.359
But what I want to just gently point out is

447
00:26:21.400 --> 00:26:27.319
that the words I want and I hope aren't effective strategies.

448
00:26:28.480 --> 00:26:30.400
It's a good place to start, but it's not an

449
00:26:30.440 --> 00:26:34.039
effective strategy that'll sustain you through the year, especially when

450
00:26:34.079 --> 00:26:35.880
adversity comes.

451
00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:41.359
So I'm just I'm so interested here. The text is

452
00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:46.319
Isaiah fifty, and the entire setup is about you. You

453
00:26:46.319 --> 00:26:49.799
you you you you you you. You don't just want change,

454
00:26:50.200 --> 00:26:52.799
don't just hope for change. You've got to be the

455
00:26:52.839 --> 00:26:55.119
one to do it. This is like a life coach.

456
00:26:55.160 --> 00:26:59.240
Come on, it's January twenty twenty five. Guys, get up.

457
00:26:59.400 --> 00:27:02.240
Don't just want it, don't just hope it. You gotta

458
00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:04.359
do it. I sound like I'm gonna cycle class. Right,

459
00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:07.480
come on, guys, pedal. Don't just want it, just don't

460
00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:09.920
hope for it. You're gonna make this year a great year.

461
00:27:10.119 --> 00:27:13.640
Keep peddling, keep peddling, keep running. Come on, come on,

462
00:27:13.799 --> 00:27:15.799
come on, come on, come on. We gotta get another

463
00:27:15.880 --> 00:27:18.039
thirty minutes in. Come on, we're gonna do this. This

464
00:27:18.200 --> 00:27:20.359
is gonna be a great year. You're gonna look better,

465
00:27:20.480 --> 00:27:22.640
You're gonna feel stronger. You can do it. Should I

466
00:27:22.720 --> 00:27:25.119
do it? Be one of those cycle coaches? Right? Should

467
00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:26.880
I do that. Should I do? I sound like I

468
00:27:26.920 --> 00:27:29.519
could do it now, Well, well I'll sit there and

469
00:27:29.559 --> 00:27:31.720
talk that way, but I'll probably be kicked back, eating

470
00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:34.079
a bag of Doritos and drinking a coke. But I

471
00:27:34.559 --> 00:27:35.279
can motivate.

472
00:27:35.359 --> 00:27:35.839
You couldn't.

473
00:27:35.839 --> 00:27:38.559
I you can do it. Come on, don't just want it,

474
00:27:38.599 --> 00:27:41.079
don't just hope for it. You gotta do it. That's

475
00:27:41.119 --> 00:27:46.319
not a way to get effective change. Now again, I

476
00:27:46.440 --> 00:27:51.039
wanna make this so very clear, I literally don't care

477
00:27:51.680 --> 00:27:54.400
what churches do. You can do whatever you want. You

478
00:27:54.440 --> 00:27:56.960
can do church any way you want. I don't care.

479
00:27:57.519 --> 00:28:01.319
The reason we're even reviewing this is because I was

480
00:28:01.400 --> 00:28:05.839
simply on YouTube and then here's this video saying churches

481
00:28:05.960 --> 00:28:09.759
are starving their people to death. The people are starving

482
00:28:10.119 --> 00:28:12.759
and they're just feeding the people chicken nuggets. And this

483
00:28:12.960 --> 00:28:15.279
pastor comes along. It's like, hey, no, we don't do that.

484
00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:19.200
The focus at our church is the preaching of God's word,

485
00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:24.480
the you know, the we do expositional preaching. I don't

486
00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:27.319
like water down ted talks. I mean, he's the one

487
00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:31.119
who criticized the other churches. He's the one who said, no,

488
00:28:31.240 --> 00:28:33.599
we don't do it like the other churches. The other

489
00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:37.200
people are starving. We feed our people the meat of

490
00:28:37.319 --> 00:28:40.240
God's work kind of mentality. All right. So when I

491
00:28:40.359 --> 00:28:43.400
heard that, I was like, well, great, then this I

492
00:28:43.519 --> 00:28:46.359
want to hear what this church does. And then when

493
00:28:46.359 --> 00:28:49.000
I go look up the church, immediately when I looked

494
00:28:49.000 --> 00:28:52.519
at the website, I'm like, the website seems completely contradictory

495
00:28:52.519 --> 00:28:55.039
to everything said in the interview. That's the reason we're

496
00:28:55.119 --> 00:28:57.519
doing this. I don't care. I'm not you can do

497
00:28:57.680 --> 00:28:59.680
church anyway you want. I just think if you're gonna

498
00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:01.359
do church so like this, then just say, hey, guys,

499
00:29:01.400 --> 00:29:05.000
we don't really care about getting philological and in depth

500
00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:08.279
and taking the scriptures apart. That's not what we're there

501
00:29:08.400 --> 00:29:11.640
to do, Okay, And that's okay, just state it. My

502
00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:15.640
whole point here is the contradiction between the way it's

503
00:29:15.759 --> 00:29:18.799
sold and what actually happens. Because this is a common

504
00:29:18.920 --> 00:29:21.720
strategy used all over the place. And I have an

505
00:29:21.920 --> 00:29:26.400
entire on of four or five pages of notes where

506
00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:29.920
I had artificial intelligence break down the strategy used by

507
00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:32.720
many pastors where oh, you've got to say these things

508
00:29:32.799 --> 00:29:35.519
because this is what the people want to hear and believe,

509
00:29:35.839 --> 00:29:38.200
but they don't really want these things. You got to

510
00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:40.319
give them something different. You got to convince them that

511
00:29:40.359 --> 00:29:42.720
they're coming and they're getting scripture and we care about

512
00:29:42.759 --> 00:29:45.039
this and this and this, but in reality, they want

513
00:29:45.119 --> 00:29:47.720
something completely different. So you got to play this little

514
00:29:47.799 --> 00:29:50.920
game that I'm just calling out this game. I don't

515
00:29:50.960 --> 00:29:53.000
care what they do, all right, If this is the

516
00:29:53.079 --> 00:29:55.160
kind of sermon you want, then by all means, you

517
00:29:55.279 --> 00:29:58.599
got a million churches to choose from. I'm just curious

518
00:29:58.640 --> 00:30:00.880
how in the world all of this sets up Isyadaya fifty,

519
00:30:01.079 --> 00:30:03.079
which has literally nothing to do with any of this.

520
00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:08.559
But okay, don't just want it. Don't just hope. That's

521
00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:11.440
not a strategy for effective change. You can't want it.

522
00:30:11.680 --> 00:30:17.440
You can't hope for it. You gotta do it right. Okay,

523
00:30:17.680 --> 00:30:21.279
all right, we could get into whole law gospel discussion here,

524
00:30:21.319 --> 00:30:22.440
but let's continue.

525
00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:25.440
And think about it. For we already know this. I

526
00:30:25.559 --> 00:30:27.240
just think about it for a minute. We don't train

527
00:30:27.319 --> 00:30:29.400
one time and go out and run a marathon, at

528
00:30:29.480 --> 00:30:32.359
least most of us, Like, we don't just save a

529
00:30:32.400 --> 00:30:35.680
little bit from one paycheck and expect like to retire

530
00:30:35.799 --> 00:30:40.039
after that. We know both of those things require consistent

531
00:30:40.200 --> 00:30:43.519
behavior over time. I think This is what Paul's driving

532
00:30:43.559 --> 00:30:46.440
at when he's mentoring a young Timothy, and he says

533
00:30:46.440 --> 00:30:48.640
this in for Timothy, chapter four, verse eight. He says,

534
00:30:48.720 --> 00:30:53.400
physical training is good, but training for Godliness is much better,

535
00:30:53.519 --> 00:30:55.839
promising benefits in this life and in the life to come,

536
00:30:56.119 --> 00:30:57.880
going into twenty twenty five. That's how I want you

537
00:30:57.960 --> 00:31:01.680
to think about your spiritual formation, which is just a

538
00:31:01.799 --> 00:31:07.400
fancy term for growing to look more and more like Jesus. Listen,

539
00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:11.720
your salvation is not based upon your works. It's based

540
00:31:11.759 --> 00:31:12.920
upon the finished.

541
00:31:12.559 --> 00:31:13.400
Work of Jesus.

542
00:31:14.480 --> 00:31:19.279
However, your formation that is based upon your works. So

543
00:31:19.400 --> 00:31:22.720
we're saved by grace through faith. But then training for

544
00:31:22.960 --> 00:31:26.319
godliness means that we've got to put in some efforts.

545
00:31:26.920 --> 00:31:29.240
And Paul is saying that we don't just like automatically

546
00:31:29.319 --> 00:31:32.960
become godly. We have to train for it. C. S.

547
00:31:33.000 --> 00:31:35.039
Lewis would say it this way in the screw Table Letters.

548
00:31:35.279 --> 00:31:38.240
He says, the more often one feels without acting. In

549
00:31:38.319 --> 00:31:41.960
other words, I've got the motivation, but I never apply

550
00:31:42.119 --> 00:31:44.079
what I know. That's what he's saying. So I got

551
00:31:44.119 --> 00:31:47.039
feeling without action, the less one will ever be able

552
00:31:47.319 --> 00:31:50.400
to act, and in the long run, the less one

553
00:31:50.559 --> 00:31:53.119
will be able to feel you hear what he's saying.

554
00:31:53.599 --> 00:31:56.519
He say, if you never apply what it is you know,

555
00:31:56.960 --> 00:32:00.440
you'll eventually lose the motivation to grow. So you've got

556
00:32:00.559 --> 00:32:02.279
to begin to take what you know. This is what

557
00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:04.799
I want to encourage you with. But not only today's message,

558
00:32:05.039 --> 00:32:07.440
but every message in twenty twenty five. Is that I

559
00:32:07.519 --> 00:32:09.799
don't expect that all forty minutes will apply to you

560
00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:12.599
equally every single week. That didn't need to you. Just

561
00:32:12.640 --> 00:32:14.240
walk away from the message and go, what's the one

562
00:32:14.279 --> 00:32:15.200
thing God wants me to know?

563
00:32:17.279 --> 00:32:19.799
Do you see how He's doing this? So he wants

564
00:32:19.799 --> 00:32:22.799
you and his sermons to focus on you. What does

565
00:32:22.839 --> 00:32:26.799
God want you to know about you? About you? About you?

566
00:32:27.160 --> 00:32:29.920
This isn't complete, not the way you're supposed to preach.

567
00:32:30.240 --> 00:32:33.839
It's not about the people. It's about the text. It's

568
00:32:33.880 --> 00:32:35.839
not a taking the text saying what does it say

569
00:32:35.920 --> 00:32:39.799
to me? Nobody stinking cares what it means to you.

570
00:32:40.200 --> 00:32:42.680
Nobody should let me say it that way. Everyone thinks

571
00:32:42.720 --> 00:32:45.799
it matters. No, what does it mean to the people?

572
00:32:46.039 --> 00:32:48.279
Was written to? What does it say? What does it

573
00:32:48.359 --> 00:32:50.559
teach us about? What? What is it saying? What is

574
00:32:50.640 --> 00:32:55.720
it teaching we're so secondary do the entire part. We're

575
00:32:55.759 --> 00:32:58.880
not even secondary with third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh place.

576
00:32:59.119 --> 00:33:00.519
We got to figure out what it means. We got

577
00:33:00.599 --> 00:33:02.640
to figure out what it means in its context. What

578
00:33:02.799 --> 00:33:06.839
is the historical context, What are the difficulties in the text?

579
00:33:07.119 --> 00:33:09.039
What is there any textual issues we get?

580
00:33:09.079 --> 00:33:09.319
We get?

581
00:33:09.319 --> 00:33:12.559
What are the theological implications are there's so there's a

582
00:33:12.680 --> 00:33:15.599
million things we have to do hermoneutically before we even

583
00:33:15.680 --> 00:33:18.160
show up on the scene. But it's always about me,

584
00:33:18.480 --> 00:33:21.480
me me, me, me, me, me, me, me me. What

585
00:33:21.559 --> 00:33:22.319
does God seem to me?

586
00:33:22.519 --> 00:33:23.160
Me me me?

587
00:33:24.559 --> 00:33:26.160
We just you know what we should do. We should

588
00:33:26.319 --> 00:33:28.920
we should remove crosses, and we should just in our

589
00:33:28.960 --> 00:33:31.839
churches just have the picture of the congregation behind the

590
00:33:31.920 --> 00:33:35.039
pulpit and say, it's all about us. Bow before us,

591
00:33:35.359 --> 00:33:38.680
the glory of us. It's all about us, exalt ourselves.

592
00:33:38.839 --> 00:33:41.279
We come here to worship us. We come to make

593
00:33:41.319 --> 00:33:44.279
it about me. It's about me, and Church better go

594
00:33:44.400 --> 00:33:45.960
the way I want it, because I don't like it,

595
00:33:46.119 --> 00:33:51.160
I'll get mad and go somewhere else. The whole thing

596
00:33:51.359 --> 00:33:57.599
is maddening. And somehow this has somehow, this has something

597
00:33:57.640 --> 00:34:01.559
to do with Isaiah fifty. I don't get the setup here,

598
00:34:02.960 --> 00:34:06.440
all right, and we won't even get into the screw

599
00:34:06.480 --> 00:34:09.280
tape letters quote. We could get into that, but okay,

600
00:34:10.679 --> 00:34:14.719
So it's all about it's all about application. Application. Basically,

601
00:34:14.800 --> 00:34:18.360
application comes first. But he's the one who's set up that.

602
00:34:18.559 --> 00:34:18.599
Know.

603
00:34:18.920 --> 00:34:24.480
It's about expounding the scriptures. It's about reading, explaining the scriptures,

604
00:34:24.519 --> 00:34:29.360
and then applying. Even the very system he gave was read, explain,

605
00:34:30.079 --> 00:34:34.440
then apply. If the application is jumping the line in

606
00:34:34.519 --> 00:34:35.239
a sense.

607
00:34:38.119 --> 00:34:39.840
And what's the one thing God wants me to do?

608
00:34:40.119 --> 00:34:42.480
And I'm telling you that if you will try to

609
00:34:42.559 --> 00:34:44.639
pinpoint what it is that God wants you to know

610
00:34:45.199 --> 00:34:47.079
and what it is he wants you to do, and

611
00:34:47.159 --> 00:34:50.119
if you would do it that week, then you're training

612
00:34:50.239 --> 00:34:54.000
in godliness. Lewis would say this in another book of his,

613
00:34:54.199 --> 00:34:56.920
It's Lesser Known God in the Dock. He would say,

614
00:34:56.960 --> 00:35:00.159
we all want progress, but progress means getting near to

615
00:35:00.280 --> 00:35:02.119
the place where you want to be. And if you

616
00:35:02.199 --> 00:35:04.880
have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does

617
00:35:04.960 --> 00:35:07.440
not get you any nearer. If you are on the

618
00:35:07.519 --> 00:35:12.039
wrong road, progress means doing an about turn and walking

619
00:35:12.239 --> 00:35:13.239
back to.

620
00:35:13.440 --> 00:35:14.320
The right road.

621
00:35:15.079 --> 00:35:17.960
I think it was Albert Einstein, who said insanity is

622
00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:19.719
doing the same thing over and over again and expecting

623
00:35:19.880 --> 00:35:23.480
different results. That's essentially what Lewis is saying there. He's like, listen, man,

624
00:35:23.519 --> 00:35:25.360
if you're not getting to the place where you want

625
00:35:25.440 --> 00:35:27.880
to be in your relationship with Jesus, you got to

626
00:35:27.880 --> 00:35:30.280
ask yourself, Okay, maybe I don't need to keep going

627
00:35:30.280 --> 00:35:31.960
down the same road. I actually need to do an

628
00:35:31.960 --> 00:35:34.400
about turn and take a different path.

629
00:35:34.599 --> 00:35:41.800
And that's literally, Oh man, I just looked it up. Okay,

630
00:35:43.800 --> 00:35:44.880
I just asked Ai.

631
00:35:46.400 --> 00:35:50.679
Hey, the C. S. Lewis quotes. AI says, let's verify

632
00:35:50.760 --> 00:35:53.079
the C. S. Lewis quotes used in the January fifth,

633
00:35:53.119 --> 00:35:55.559
twenty twenty five sermon to determine if the pastor quoted

634
00:35:55.599 --> 00:35:59.199
them accurately and in context. Quote one seems to be

635
00:35:59.280 --> 00:36:01.159
you can't go back can change the beginning, but you

636
00:36:01.239 --> 00:36:03.840
can start where you are and change the ending. The

637
00:36:03.960 --> 00:36:06.079
quote is often attributed to C. S. Lewis, but there

638
00:36:06.159 --> 00:36:10.039
is no documented, documented source in Lewis's published works or

639
00:36:10.119 --> 00:36:13.000
letters that contains the exact line. It does not appear

640
00:36:13.039 --> 00:36:15.559
in Mere Christianity. The Four Loves the Problem of Pain

641
00:36:15.880 --> 00:36:18.360
Surprised by Joy letters to Malcolm or any of the

642
00:36:18.800 --> 00:36:22.159
Narnia books. The phrasing is modern and therapeutic, not consistent

643
00:36:22.199 --> 00:36:25.039
with C. S. Lewis's writing style. It's widely considered a

644
00:36:25.159 --> 00:36:28.760
missed attribution, similar to other quotes floating online that get

645
00:36:28.840 --> 00:36:32.559
falsely tied to C. S. Lewis, like You're never too

646
00:36:32.679 --> 00:36:37.239
old to set another goal. So it's not verified. The

647
00:36:37.360 --> 00:36:41.280
other very often, the only way to get quality time

648
00:36:41.400 --> 00:36:44.880
is to get quantity time. This quote is not from C. S. Lewis,

649
00:36:47.519 --> 00:36:51.000
so it seems. And I think he gave a different quote,

650
00:36:51.960 --> 00:36:56.360
so at least so far, and maybe I so according

651
00:36:56.400 --> 00:36:58.159
to AI, and I'd have to go through and work.

652
00:36:58.599 --> 00:37:00.440
I said, I wasn't even going to get into Uh. Oh,

653
00:37:00.519 --> 00:37:04.079
I know what he did. He he Okay, I'm gonna ask.

654
00:37:04.480 --> 00:37:25.800
He gave a quote supposedly from the screwtape letters. Okay,

655
00:37:25.840 --> 00:37:34.280
hang on, okay, yeah, the uh okay, here we go.

656
00:37:34.480 --> 00:37:37.800
He the screw tape letter. Once it sounds to be exact.

657
00:37:38.239 --> 00:37:41.119
The more the more often he feels without acting, the

658
00:37:41.199 --> 00:37:43.239
less he will be able to ever act, and the

659
00:37:43.320 --> 00:37:46.079
long run, the less he will be able to feel. Uh,

660
00:37:46.400 --> 00:37:54.400
this is a legitimate quote, all right? So yes, the

661
00:37:54.800 --> 00:38:00.719
quote was accurate, The source was correct, all right. The Jerman, however,

662
00:38:00.840 --> 00:38:03.199
did not explain the context that the quote comes from

663
00:38:03.239 --> 00:38:08.679
a demon trying to destroy a believer spiritual life. The

664
00:38:08.800 --> 00:38:12.079
context matters because Lewis is showing how the enemy exploits

665
00:38:12.199 --> 00:38:17.320
are in action. So AI says, now, to his credit,

666
00:38:17.480 --> 00:38:21.480
the pastor quoted C. S. Lewis correctly, this one really

667
00:38:21.599 --> 00:38:24.559
is from the Screwtape letters. But that wasn't But what

668
00:38:24.840 --> 00:38:27.760
wasn't mentioned is the voice behind the quote screwtape, a

669
00:38:27.840 --> 00:38:31.119
senior demon coaching his nephew on how to spiritually sabotage

670
00:38:31.159 --> 00:38:33.639
a believer. The whole point that if someone keeps feeling

671
00:38:33.639 --> 00:38:37.079
spiritual conviction it never acts, though eventually stop feeling anything

672
00:38:37.119 --> 00:38:40.039
at all is a powerful insight but also a warning. Okay,

673
00:38:40.360 --> 00:38:43.800
So he didn't offer explain that, So that screwtape letter

674
00:38:43.880 --> 00:38:48.400
one is correct. That one is correct. So he's not

675
00:38:48.559 --> 00:38:51.840
off to a good start because in the interview his

676
00:38:52.000 --> 00:38:56.320
story about amazing Grace is fraudulent. The Augustine quote is fraudulent,

677
00:38:56.400 --> 00:38:59.920
and it appears there's two other quotes. I guess somewhere

678
00:39:00.119 --> 00:39:04.159
the sermon that is attributed to Cus list unless Ai

679
00:39:04.559 --> 00:39:09.960
just miss didn't get the transcript right. I did give

680
00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:11.719
it the transcript, but I didn't give it to it again.

681
00:39:11.719 --> 00:39:14.079
I'm making it refer back to what it's already reviewed,

682
00:39:14.400 --> 00:39:17.480
so I could I could possibly provide it. Well, hang on,

683
00:39:17.639 --> 00:39:19.480
I know what I'll do. I know what i'll do.

684
00:39:19.679 --> 00:39:21.199
We'll take a little bit of time. That's okay. We

685
00:39:21.320 --> 00:39:23.199
want to get everything accurate. I want to get everything

686
00:39:23.280 --> 00:39:27.880
accurate here. Okay, I'm gonna I'm gonna do this. I'm

687
00:39:27.960 --> 00:39:33.960
going to give it the transcript again. Review this transcript

688
00:39:36.079 --> 00:39:39.800
and find all the quotes.

689
00:39:43.760 --> 00:39:44.480
That are.

690
00:39:45.880 --> 00:39:58.960
Misattributed. Miss attribute if I can spell right and false,

691
00:40:00.320 --> 00:40:08.800
here we go. Okay, so all right, here we go.

692
00:40:08.920 --> 00:40:11.639
Here's a detailed analysis and critique of the quoted material

693
00:40:11.679 --> 00:40:14.480
and the sermon transcript from January the fifth, with attention

694
00:40:14.599 --> 00:40:18.199
to factual, hermeneutical, philological, and logical errors. The focus is

695
00:40:18.280 --> 00:40:21.880
particularly on misattributed or false quotes. We've got the first one,

696
00:40:22.320 --> 00:40:25.599
uh true. Trust the past to God's mercy, the present

697
00:40:25.679 --> 00:40:28.400
to God's love, and the future to God's providence. This

698
00:40:28.840 --> 00:40:31.840
this quote is widely circulated and often attributed to Augustine.

699
00:40:32.079 --> 00:40:35.880
It is not, but it's it's not uh, it's it's

700
00:40:36.159 --> 00:40:40.880
he says that best you could say attribution disputed or

701
00:40:41.039 --> 00:40:46.480
unverified paraphrase. All right, the quote quotes of to attributed

702
00:40:46.519 --> 00:40:51.239
to C. S. Lewis. The more often one feels Okay,

703
00:40:51.400 --> 00:40:53.360
that's the one we just looked at. That one is

704
00:40:53.920 --> 00:40:58.239
accurate another one, uh the quote God in the doc

705
00:40:58.440 --> 00:41:03.719
we all want progress, but progress means means getting nearer

706
00:41:03.800 --> 00:41:05.920
to the place where you want to be. If you're

707
00:41:05.960 --> 00:41:08.960
on the wrong road, progress means doing an about turn.

708
00:41:09.440 --> 00:41:12.519
This is a faithful paraphrase of something Lewis wrote in

709
00:41:12.559 --> 00:41:18.119
Mere Christianity, where he wrote, progress means getting nearer to

710
00:41:18.159 --> 00:41:19.519
the place where you want to be, and if you

711
00:41:19.599 --> 00:41:21.760
have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does

712
00:41:21.840 --> 00:41:25.960
not get you any nearer. Misattribution to the Wrong Book

713
00:41:26.159 --> 00:41:29.559
is minor, but demonstrates a lack of careful carefulness. All right.

714
00:41:29.639 --> 00:41:33.000
So okay, okay, wait a minute. So he says that

715
00:41:33.119 --> 00:41:36.440
that God's that C. S. Lewis said this and God

716
00:41:36.679 --> 00:41:40.119
in the doc. This is a faithful paraphrase of something

717
00:41:40.199 --> 00:41:44.719
Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity. All right, not God in

718
00:41:44.800 --> 00:41:48.039
the dock. So he it's he gives a faithful paraphrase

719
00:41:48.079 --> 00:41:50.199
of what Lewis says, but he gives he attributes it

720
00:41:50.320 --> 00:41:53.920
to the wrong book. So AI says, this is a

721
00:41:54.000 --> 00:41:57.239
misattribution to the wrong book. It maybe be considered minor,

722
00:41:57.320 --> 00:42:00.360
but it demonstrates a lack of carefulness, particularly when diferencing

723
00:42:00.400 --> 00:42:03.239
a respected theological thinker and a sermon meant to ground

724
00:42:03.239 --> 00:42:06.519
believers in truth. Ironically, the quote is used to advocate

725
00:42:06.639 --> 00:42:10.920
for realignment with biblical faithfulness, while the misattribution itself reflects

726
00:42:10.960 --> 00:42:16.280
sloppiness and intellectual discipline. Right, okay, And then of course

727
00:42:16.320 --> 00:42:20.840
it goes back to the two things said in the interview,

728
00:42:20.920 --> 00:42:25.360
that we're incorrect about the the thing about amazing Christ.

729
00:42:25.639 --> 00:42:30.000
So there, and then of course earlier AI says, he

730
00:42:30.079 --> 00:42:32.000
says some other things about C. S. Lewis, So we'll

731
00:42:32.000 --> 00:42:34.320
see if he says that. So so far he's not

732
00:42:34.440 --> 00:42:37.039
of he's got the screw tape letters right God on

733
00:42:37.119 --> 00:42:39.119
the dock. He's got the wrong book. And then the

734
00:42:39.199 --> 00:42:42.800
Augustine quote is completely fraudulent. Now isn't it ridiculous that

735
00:42:42.920 --> 00:42:45.079
in a sermon I got to spend all this time

736
00:42:45.280 --> 00:42:49.920
fact checking quotes. Now this is just a question. If

737
00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.559
you remember he put forth his churches being so different

738
00:42:54.719 --> 00:42:58.320
right that they they're not like these water down ted talks. Well,

739
00:42:58.800 --> 00:43:00.639
and a water down Ted talk. Do you have to

740
00:43:00.760 --> 00:43:03.039
sit there and fact check everything, Well, you probably do,

741
00:43:03.400 --> 00:43:06.639
but this is just crazy that now this entire sermon review,

742
00:43:06.880 --> 00:43:09.039
we're not even gotten to Isaiah fifty yet, we haven't

743
00:43:09.039 --> 00:43:12.119
even gotten to Isaiah fifty. We're still not even there.

744
00:43:12.599 --> 00:43:15.199
And what's driving me crazy is we can't get there

745
00:43:15.440 --> 00:43:18.239
because we're spending all of this time having the fact

746
00:43:18.360 --> 00:43:22.639
check quotes that clearly it's not he's not even accurat

747
00:43:22.679 --> 00:43:25.840
in quotes. So just from a practical standpoint, if the

748
00:43:25.920 --> 00:43:30.480
pastor can't get quotes right, can't get quotes right either,

749
00:43:30.800 --> 00:43:34.679
fraudulent quotes, misattributed quotes, wrong books, all the things that

750
00:43:34.760 --> 00:43:37.400
he's doing here not even giving you the context of

751
00:43:37.599 --> 00:43:40.000
the quote, like, well, this is what the demon was saying,

752
00:43:40.119 --> 00:43:43.119
this is what the demon was not even giving you context.

753
00:43:44.840 --> 00:43:46.679
Do you trust them to handle the text?

754
00:43:52.880 --> 00:43:56.400
Really, what this eight week series is about that we're

755
00:43:56.480 --> 00:43:58.760
kicking off a brand new year, is that I don't

756
00:43:58.800 --> 00:44:00.840
want this to be a people that are trying to

757
00:44:00.960 --> 00:44:05.360
insulate ourselves from adversity, because adversity is going to come.

758
00:44:05.480 --> 00:44:08.760
I want us to be the kind of people that

759
00:44:08.960 --> 00:44:15.800
develop a godly resilience in the face of adversity, that

760
00:44:15.920 --> 00:44:18.239
we would develop kind of this kind of coin, this

761
00:44:18.360 --> 00:44:21.960
term like a spiritual grit, that I'm going to be

762
00:44:22.079 --> 00:44:26.199
surefooted even in the face of adversity and whatever may come.

763
00:44:26.400 --> 00:44:28.880
And so our message series that we're kicking off today,

764
00:44:28.880 --> 00:44:30.920
it's gonna be an a week series. It's based off

765
00:44:31.000 --> 00:44:33.960
a single verse in the Old Testament Book of Isaiah

766
00:44:34.280 --> 00:44:37.920
where the Old Testament prophet Isaiah says these really powerful words.

767
00:44:38.239 --> 00:44:39.920
He says, and I think he was doing a little

768
00:44:39.960 --> 00:44:42.599
bit of meditation of his own. He goes, because the

769
00:44:42.800 --> 00:44:45.039
sovereign Lord, that word sovereign just means he is in control.

770
00:44:45.760 --> 00:44:52.199
He helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore I

771
00:44:52.360 --> 00:44:57.559
have here it is set my face like flint. Flint

772
00:44:57.679 --> 00:45:01.159
is another word for stone. It means that I'm fixed.

773
00:45:01.400 --> 00:45:04.880
I'm not gonna be like blown around by the waves

774
00:45:04.920 --> 00:45:07.920
of change. My eyes are fixed upon becoming more and

775
00:45:08.039 --> 00:45:10.960
more like Christ. And I know that all that effort,

776
00:45:11.159 --> 00:45:13.480
I will not be put to shame. And that's what

777
00:45:13.840 --> 00:45:16.800
these this eight week series is all about. And actually,

778
00:45:16.880 --> 00:45:18.440
what I want you to know is I've laid out

779
00:45:18.519 --> 00:45:21.199
all the message series for twenty twenty five, and the

780
00:45:21.280 --> 00:45:23.280
way I lay out a message series is kind of

781
00:45:23.360 --> 00:45:26.800
like a menu, like what does our church body need

782
00:45:27.639 --> 00:45:30.800
to what nutrients do we need to kind of carry

783
00:45:30.880 --> 00:45:33.119
us through and really kind of the mega theme for

784
00:45:33.199 --> 00:45:39.480
twenty twenty five is preparing us to follow God wherever

785
00:45:39.679 --> 00:45:40.320
he may lead.

786
00:45:42.159 --> 00:45:49.360
Okay, I've got I'm having complete I'm having comply melt

787
00:45:49.440 --> 00:45:54.239
down here, ladies and gentlemen. This just went got weird.

788
00:45:54.719 --> 00:45:55.000
Okay.

789
00:45:55.320 --> 00:45:58.920
So he quotes Isaiah fifty seven. He says entire series

790
00:45:59.000 --> 00:46:01.199
is going to base based off a single verse in

791
00:46:01.320 --> 00:46:04.599
the Old Testament Book of Isaiah, chapter fifty, verse seven,

792
00:46:04.920 --> 00:46:09.119
where Isaiah may have been doing some meditating himself for

793
00:46:09.239 --> 00:46:11.960
the Lord God will help me. Is he saying that

794
00:46:12.159 --> 00:46:15.760
Isaiah is saying that about himself, that God will help me?

795
00:46:16.199 --> 00:46:19.840
Therefore shall I not be confounded? Therefore have I set

796
00:46:19.920 --> 00:46:22.880
my face like flint? And I know that I shall

797
00:46:23.000 --> 00:46:26.079
not be ashamed? Is he saying that Isaiah was meditating

798
00:46:26.320 --> 00:46:29.039
and Isaiah is saying this about himself?

799
00:46:31.360 --> 00:46:31.519
Right?

800
00:46:33.119 --> 00:46:36.639
I So he seems to refer to Isaiah fifty seven

801
00:46:36.679 --> 00:46:40.079
as possibly Isaiah meditating or Isaiah speaking about himself. He

802
00:46:40.159 --> 00:46:43.079
then applies the verse directly to modern believers, using it

803
00:46:43.119 --> 00:46:46.960
as a model for personal consistency, determination, and spiritual resolve.

804
00:46:47.400 --> 00:46:47.519
Right.

805
00:46:47.679 --> 00:46:50.599
So, but at first the way he read, if Isaiah

806
00:46:50.760 --> 00:46:53.599
was doing some meditating himself, then you first read it

807
00:46:53.679 --> 00:46:57.239
as this is Isaiah speaking of himself. But this seems

808
00:46:57.280 --> 00:47:01.719
to be a clearly serious hermeneutical error. So I had

809
00:47:01.800 --> 00:47:04.639
AI do some am I, am I missing something here?

810
00:47:05.039 --> 00:47:06.719
Because I was like, wait a minute, am I hearing

811
00:47:06.760 --> 00:47:08.599
this right? I mean just literally when he said it,

812
00:47:08.639 --> 00:47:10.760
I immediately started typing to Ai, am I, am I

813
00:47:10.920 --> 00:47:13.599
out of my mind? Here? You know, here's the here's

814
00:47:13.639 --> 00:47:15.239
the transcript. Am I missing something?

815
00:47:16.719 --> 00:47:17.000
This is?

816
00:47:17.159 --> 00:47:21.239
This seems to be what's happening. Number one, he's misidentifying

817
00:47:21.320 --> 00:47:24.760
the speaker, Isaiah forty Isaiah fifty four through nine is

818
00:47:24.800 --> 00:47:27.480
not Isaiah speaking about himself. It's the voice of the

819
00:47:27.599 --> 00:47:32.920
servant of the Lord, a distinct figure in Isaiah's prophetic writing.

820
00:47:33.239 --> 00:47:37.400
Go back to Isaiah chapter fifty, verse four. The Lord

821
00:47:37.519 --> 00:47:40.000
God hath given me the tongue of the learn that

822
00:47:40.159 --> 00:47:43.119
I should know how to speak a word in season

823
00:47:43.719 --> 00:47:45.920
is So what we have to do is identify who

824
00:47:46.199 --> 00:47:50.239
is who's being spoken, who is the one being spoken

825
00:47:50.320 --> 00:47:57.239
of here, or who's the one that this is speaking of. Okay, man, okay,

826
00:47:57.320 --> 00:48:00.800
all right, Oh they's so see, this is what happens

827
00:48:00.800 --> 00:48:02.960
when you go to a church like this. We almost

828
00:48:03.039 --> 00:48:06.280
need to stop and do an entire we need to

829
00:48:06.320 --> 00:48:08.719
do in an exegedical study of Isaiah fifty one through

830
00:48:08.719 --> 00:48:11.519
eleven is what we need to do. But Ai says

831
00:48:13.760 --> 00:48:16.159
that this is the voice of the servant of the Lord.

832
00:48:16.239 --> 00:48:19.360
Now we've been talking about the servant of the Lord

833
00:48:19.559 --> 00:48:23.679
or the servant songs in Isaiah forty through fifty five,

834
00:48:23.960 --> 00:48:26.719
and we've been working and working, working and working hermoneutically

835
00:48:26.800 --> 00:48:29.639
trying to to identify who are the servants, right, because

836
00:48:29.679 --> 00:48:34.079
sometimes Israel's refer to the servant. Sometimes Cyrus, we believe

837
00:48:34.159 --> 00:48:37.039
is being referenced as a servant. Sometimes it may point

838
00:48:37.119 --> 00:48:39.840
to Jesus being the reference of the servant. So you've

839
00:48:39.880 --> 00:48:44.159
got to identify the servants. The servant here speaks in

840
00:48:44.239 --> 00:48:48.480
the first person, describing his divine calling obedient, suffering, and

841
00:48:48.639 --> 00:48:52.599
unwavering resolve. I gave my back to those who strike me.

842
00:48:53.119 --> 00:48:56.719
The servant is not the prophet Isaiah it doesn't appear

843
00:48:56.840 --> 00:48:59.599
to be Israel as a nation. It would be possibly

844
00:48:59.599 --> 00:49:02.039
if you're going to apply it is the messionic figure

845
00:49:02.239 --> 00:49:05.280
ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ. But the way he just

846
00:49:05.480 --> 00:49:08.760
did that was he made Isaiah may have been meditating,

847
00:49:08.880 --> 00:49:12.239
and he's going to apply it to us what is

848
00:49:12.480 --> 00:49:18.199
going on. It ignores the servant's song structure. Isaiah fifty

849
00:49:18.320 --> 00:49:21.119
is the third of the servant songs, Isaiah forty two,

850
00:49:21.880 --> 00:49:23.599
which is what we're going to be working on here

851
00:49:23.960 --> 00:49:28.199
in about forty minutes. Isaiah forty two, Isaiah forty nine,

852
00:49:28.519 --> 00:49:32.159
Isaiah fifty, and Isaiah fifty two through Isaiah fifty three.

853
00:49:32.719 --> 00:49:37.239
These are cohesive philological units carefully crafted to describe the identity, mission,

854
00:49:37.280 --> 00:49:40.880
and suffering of God's chosen servant. The Servant speaks as

855
00:49:40.960 --> 00:49:44.199
one distinct from Isaiah, with a role far greater than

856
00:49:44.239 --> 00:49:47.280
a prophet. He is the redeemer who suffers for others.

857
00:49:48.960 --> 00:49:52.639
By treating verse seven as Isaiah's personal resolution and then

858
00:49:52.679 --> 00:49:56.159
applying it directly to the congregation, the sermon collapses the

859
00:49:56.280 --> 00:49:59.920
crystalllogical framework of Isaiah fifty and to a motivational called

860
00:50:00.280 --> 00:50:04.719
action that turns the messianic prophecy into a self help slogan,

861
00:50:05.039 --> 00:50:08.920
robbing the passage of its gospel depth and redemptive clarity.

862
00:50:11.880 --> 00:50:15.000
This is this is insane. I remember, he's in the

863
00:50:15.039 --> 00:50:18.719
world like we do expositional preaching. This is not expositional preaching.

864
00:50:19.079 --> 00:50:22.559
This is insanity. What you are hearing, you are hearing

865
00:50:22.639 --> 00:50:25.360
maybe one of the world. I cannot believe what is happening.

866
00:50:26.360 --> 00:50:36.119
I'm gonna have to back this up, lady. But see

867
00:50:36.239 --> 00:50:41.679
this literally brings me to the point of saying, it

868
00:50:41.920 --> 00:50:45.000
doesn't matter. Just quit. It doesn't matter. It's you. It's

869
00:50:45.039 --> 00:50:49.400
a waste of time. This kind of preaching brings in

870
00:50:49.599 --> 00:50:53.679
between nine to twelve thousand people a week in Indiana,

871
00:50:54.360 --> 00:51:00.480
and they give thirty million dollars to support this kind

872
00:51:00.599 --> 00:51:05.440
of preaching. There's no point in going to Bible college.

873
00:51:05.719 --> 00:51:08.920
There's no point in going to seminary. It's a waste

874
00:51:08.960 --> 00:51:13.119
of time. There's no point in learning hermeneutics, there's no

875
00:51:13.280 --> 00:51:17.480
point in doing exegetical studies. It's nobody wants that. The

876
00:51:17.599 --> 00:51:21.039
people in America don't want. You say, oh, we want that.

877
00:51:21.239 --> 00:51:23.920
No use stinking don't, because if people in America did,

878
00:51:24.159 --> 00:51:28.880
these churches wouldn't even exist. What is happening here to

879
00:51:28.960 --> 00:51:46.159
Isaiah fifty This is criminal, this is insanity. I'm just

880
00:51:46.199 --> 00:51:50.400
looking down at my study bible Isaiah chapter fifty, verse four,

881
00:51:50.519 --> 00:51:53.679
given give, given me the tongue of the learn. The

882
00:51:53.880 --> 00:51:57.400
third servant song consists of a reflection by the servant

883
00:51:57.719 --> 00:52:01.159
and the prophets addressed to the believing and unbelo leaving Israel,

884
00:52:01.199 --> 00:52:05.559
and verses ten through eleven. So even my study Bible

885
00:52:05.840 --> 00:52:07.719
just says, no, this is a servant song. This is

886
00:52:07.800 --> 00:52:13.880
the servant. He just made the servant Isaiah. This is

887
00:52:13.920 --> 00:52:17.239
what what is okay? I gotta back this up, ladies.

888
00:52:17.559 --> 00:52:19.639
I could play this on a loop for the next

889
00:52:19.880 --> 00:52:22.199
fifty years. And this is what I'm gonna do. I'm

890
00:52:22.239 --> 00:52:26.239
gonna stand out in front of seminaries when the young

891
00:52:26.280 --> 00:52:28.199
people are no, no, no, no no, you're getting ready

892
00:52:28.239 --> 00:52:30.760
to go to seminary, Go go withdraw and get a refund.

893
00:52:30.800 --> 00:52:33.239
Why this is the kind of preaching people want. Listen,

894
00:52:34.360 --> 00:52:37.239
that church right there, nine to twelve thousand people a week,

895
00:52:37.679 --> 00:52:41.159
thirty million dollars. There's no point in going into that

896
00:52:41.239 --> 00:52:45.440
seminary paying money because this is you can preach this

897
00:52:45.599 --> 00:52:48.320
way right now. Just open your Bible find a verse

898
00:52:48.440 --> 00:52:50.679
and just make it say whatever you want it to say. Oh,

899
00:52:50.920 --> 00:52:53.639
but don't criticize this, because then you'll get email of

900
00:52:53.679 --> 00:52:58.320
people criticizing you. Oh, I'm sorry. I can't criticize when

901
00:52:58.320 --> 00:53:02.000
a pastor takes a passage that's possibly specifically a prophetic

902
00:53:02.079 --> 00:53:05.079
message about Christ and makes it about us. I'm sorry.

903
00:53:05.199 --> 00:53:08.039
I'm not supposed to criticize that because I'm the bad

904
00:53:08.159 --> 00:53:12.679
guy if I do that. Oh, man, I gotta back

905
00:53:12.719 --> 00:53:18.719
this up. I gotta back I'm everyone needs to flee

906
00:53:18.800 --> 00:53:20.840
the state of Indiana. That's the only thing I can say.

907
00:53:20.920 --> 00:53:22.440
Get out of Indiana. Here we go.

908
00:53:24.079 --> 00:53:26.719
That I'm gonna be surefooted even in the face of

909
00:53:26.840 --> 00:53:30.800
adversity and whatever may come. And So our message series

910
00:53:30.840 --> 00:53:32.079
that we're kicking off today, it's gonna be an a

911
00:53:32.159 --> 00:53:35.320
week series. It's based off a single verse in the

912
00:53:35.400 --> 00:53:38.800
Old Testament Book of Isaiah where the Old Testament prophet

913
00:53:38.880 --> 00:53:41.760
Isaiah says these really powerful words. He says, and I

914
00:53:41.840 --> 00:53:43.400
think he was doing a little bit of meditation of

915
00:53:43.480 --> 00:53:43.800
his own.

916
00:53:46.480 --> 00:53:48.719
So Isaiah was just doing a little bit of meditation

917
00:53:48.880 --> 00:53:51.519
on his own, and then he came up and then

918
00:53:51.679 --> 00:53:57.760
Isaiah said this for the glory God will help me Isaiah. Therefore,

919
00:53:57.800 --> 00:54:02.519
shall I me Isaiah, not be confounded? Therefore, have I

920
00:54:03.039 --> 00:54:06.760
me Isaiah said my face like flint? And I me

921
00:54:07.159 --> 00:54:10.280
Isaiah know that I shall not be ashamed. So he

922
00:54:10.360 --> 00:54:14.559
takes the words of the servant and makes him about himself. Now,

923
00:54:14.840 --> 00:54:16.760
if you're going to make that argument that this is

924
00:54:16.840 --> 00:54:21.159
Isaiah speaking of himself, If that's the argument, okay, well

925
00:54:21.239 --> 00:54:24.079
then he's not offering up. Well, then I guess he's saying, Hey,

926
00:54:24.320 --> 00:54:27.719
when you guys could remember, Isaiah wrote these words about

927
00:54:27.719 --> 00:54:30.960
one hundred years before the people go into to Babylonian captivity.

928
00:54:30.960 --> 00:54:33.559
So I guess what he's saying. He's guys, look, you're

929
00:54:33.679 --> 00:54:36.239
going into captivity, and here's how I'm gonna comfort you.

930
00:54:36.760 --> 00:54:41.800
Remember how I God helped me. I guess he's saying,

931
00:54:42.119 --> 00:54:54.800
I'm the example. I'm just I'm baffled here. So, okay,

932
00:54:55.159 --> 00:55:06.199
I gotta is there is there any textual and hermeneutical

933
00:55:08.360 --> 00:55:20.760
justification if I can typewrite for saying Isaiah is speaking

934
00:55:21.800 --> 00:55:32.119
of himself in Isaiah fifty seven, I want to look

935
00:55:32.159 --> 00:55:34.159
for I'm gonna I'm gonna do everything I can to

936
00:55:34.239 --> 00:55:37.199
help this pastor out, because if there is textual or

937
00:55:37.239 --> 00:55:40.840
hermoneutical justification for doing this. Then listen, ladies and gentlemen.

938
00:55:41.039 --> 00:55:43.800
Then I got no problem coming up with a completely

939
00:55:43.920 --> 00:55:46.719
new and unique way of interpreting Isaiah fifty verse seven.

940
00:55:46.760 --> 00:55:53.280
I got no way. I got no problem doing that. Okay,

941
00:55:53.360 --> 00:55:59.079
hang on, I've gotta look here, all right. Ay, I

942
00:55:59.199 --> 00:56:06.920
did not play No hey, I gave me no exclamation mark. No,

943
00:56:07.679 --> 00:56:10.960
there is no valid textual or hermoneutical justification for saying

944
00:56:11.000 --> 00:56:13.880
that Isaiah is speaking of himself and Isaiah fifty seven.

945
00:56:14.119 --> 00:56:18.599
That interpretation is inconsistent with the structure, the flow, and

946
00:56:18.679 --> 00:56:22.440
the theology of the passage. It misunderstands both the literary

947
00:56:22.599 --> 00:56:26.079
voice and the context of Isaiah fifty four through eleven.

948
00:56:27.519 --> 00:56:31.440
These verses Isaiah fifty four through eleven are part of

949
00:56:31.480 --> 00:56:34.519
the Third Servants Song in Isaiah. The passage is structured

950
00:56:34.559 --> 00:56:37.039
as a first person monologue of the servant of the Lord.

951
00:56:37.360 --> 00:56:40.800
Let's observe some key features Isaiah fifty four. The Lord

952
00:56:40.880 --> 00:56:43.480
God has given me the tongue of those who are taught.

953
00:56:43.880 --> 00:56:46.599
That is the beginning of a distinct speaker, clearly someone

954
00:56:46.719 --> 00:56:49.840
taught and commissioned by the Lord. Isaiah fifty five to six.

955
00:56:49.920 --> 00:56:52.159
The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was

956
00:56:52.239 --> 00:56:54.800
not rebellious. I turned not backward. I gave my back

957
00:56:54.880 --> 00:56:58.079
to those to strike. The person is obedient and suffering,

958
00:56:58.519 --> 00:57:02.719
submitting willing to physical abuse and humiliation Isaiah fifty seven.

959
00:57:03.480 --> 00:57:05.440
But the Lord God helps me. Therefore I have not

960
00:57:05.559 --> 00:57:08.320
been disgraced all right. This verse shows the servant's unwavering

961
00:57:08.360 --> 00:57:11.519
obedience in the face of rejection and shame. This continues

962
00:57:11.519 --> 00:57:13.880
through verses eight through nine, and the unit ends in

963
00:57:13.960 --> 00:57:18.079
verse eleven, where God speaks again. Why this is not

964
00:57:18.719 --> 00:57:22.239
Isaiah speaking about himself too exalted and sinless. The speaker

965
00:57:22.320 --> 00:57:25.239
never resists, God never rebels, and utterly faithful even to

966
00:57:25.320 --> 00:57:28.360
the death Isaiah, the prophet never claims sinlessness. In fact,

967
00:57:28.400 --> 00:57:30.639
in Isaiah six, he says, woe is me, for I'm lost.

968
00:57:30.800 --> 00:57:33.519
I'm a man of unclean lips. The servant here is betrayed,

969
00:57:33.559 --> 00:57:37.519
his perfect obedient. Not even Moses or Isaiah meets this description.

970
00:57:38.119 --> 00:57:42.159
The servant's role is uniquely messianic. The servant's mission, especially

971
00:57:42.199 --> 00:57:45.239
in Isaiah forty nine and fifty three, includes bringing Jacob

972
00:57:45.360 --> 00:57:48.400
back to God bearing the sins of many, being exalted

973
00:57:48.480 --> 00:57:52.559
after the suffering. These are Messianic redemptive tasks. No prophet

974
00:57:52.679 --> 00:57:56.920
in Israel's history fulfills them, except for Christ. Early Jewish

975
00:57:57.000 --> 00:58:02.000
and Christian interpretation ancient Jewish tech recognize the servant as

976
00:58:02.000 --> 00:58:04.320
an individual, not just a metaphor for the prophet or

977
00:58:04.400 --> 00:58:07.519
for Israel as a whole. The New Testament repeatedly identifies

978
00:58:07.599 --> 00:58:12.079
Jesus the fulfillment of the servant's songs. Matthew twelve quotes

979
00:58:12.159 --> 00:58:15.719
Isaiah forty two, Acts eight interprets Isaiah fifty three. Luke

980
00:58:15.840 --> 00:58:21.199
nine shows Jesus setting his face towards Jerusalem and echo

981
00:58:21.280 --> 00:58:27.719
of Isaiah chapter fifty, verse seven. All right, So Isaiah

982
00:58:27.800 --> 00:58:30.719
fifty seven therefore, is not about you. It's not about Isaiah.

983
00:58:30.719 --> 00:58:33.079
It's not about our resolve. All right, let me try this.

984
00:58:33.320 --> 00:58:35.400
Let's let me try a different way of asking, let

985
00:58:35.440 --> 00:58:47.719
me try a different way. What proof? What textual? What

986
00:58:48.039 --> 00:59:03.039
textual and hermeneutical proof that Isaiah fifty four four through

987
00:59:03.320 --> 00:59:14.559
eleven is a servant song? Is the speaker ever identified

988
00:59:15.079 --> 00:59:23.079
as the servant of the Lord? I'm being now, I'm

989
00:59:23.079 --> 00:59:31.320
playing Devil's advocate with Ai. All right, okay, all right,

990
00:59:31.440 --> 00:59:34.679
so Ai says, excellent and careful question and one that

991
00:59:34.800 --> 00:59:38.000
deserves a clear text driven response. You're asking, is their

992
00:59:38.119 --> 00:59:41.199
solid textual and hermeneutical proof that Isaiah fifty four is

993
00:59:41.280 --> 00:59:44.719
a servant song and specifically, is the speaker ever explicitly

994
00:59:44.800 --> 00:59:47.360
called the servant of the Lord. Are the words servant

995
00:59:47.440 --> 00:59:49.519
of the Lord in Isaiah fifty four through eleven? No,

996
00:59:49.639 --> 00:59:51.880
the phrase servant of the Lord is not explicitly used

997
00:59:51.880 --> 00:59:54.519
in Isaiah fifty four through eleven. However, this is also

998
00:59:54.599 --> 00:59:57.199
true of Isaiah fifty three one through twelve, the most

999
00:59:57.280 --> 00:59:59.719
famous servant song, where the servant is only called that

1000
01:00:00.280 --> 01:00:04.119
in Isaiah fifty two thirteen, Behold, my servant shall act wisely.

1001
01:00:04.480 --> 01:00:07.400
This shows that servant songs are not always marked by

1002
01:00:07.440 --> 01:00:09.400
the repeated use of the word servant. It said, they

1003
01:00:09.400 --> 01:00:14.440
are identified by contextual continuity, voice and content, structural unity,

1004
01:00:14.719 --> 01:00:18.599
thematic alignment with other servant passages. Why do scholars call

1005
01:00:18.679 --> 01:00:22.679
Isaiah fifty four through eleven a servant song? The passage

1006
01:00:22.840 --> 01:00:26.000
is identified as a servant's song because of textual, structural,

1007
01:00:26.039 --> 01:00:28.960
and thematic markers that directly align it with the previous

1008
01:00:29.000 --> 01:00:31.360
servant's songs Isaiah forty two to forty nine and the

1009
01:00:31.440 --> 01:00:35.559
final one fifty two through fifty three, So textual and

1010
01:00:35.599 --> 01:00:40.159
hermoneutical evidence continuity with Isaiah forty nine. Isaiah forty nine

1011
01:00:40.239 --> 01:00:42.800
one through six, the servant speaks in the first person,

1012
01:00:42.880 --> 01:00:46.440
describing his calling, weariness, and trust in the Lord's vindication.

1013
01:00:46.960 --> 01:00:50.480
Isaiah fifty four through nine the same pattern, first person speech,

1014
01:00:50.599 --> 01:00:55.519
same tone, same themes of suffering, obedience, weariness, and divine vindication.

1015
01:00:56.000 --> 01:00:59.239
This suggests literary continuity, not a new speaker, but a

1016
01:00:59.280 --> 01:01:04.079
continued serve discourse, unique first person monologue. The speaker in

1017
01:01:04.159 --> 01:01:07.119
Isaiah fifty four through nine. The Lord says, the Lord

1018
01:01:07.239 --> 01:01:11.000
has given me verse four, he wakens my ear. Verse four,

1019
01:01:11.880 --> 01:01:14.599
I was not rebellious. Verse five. I gave my back

1020
01:01:14.679 --> 01:01:17.360
to those who strike. Verse six. The Lord helps me

1021
01:01:17.519 --> 01:01:20.079
verse seven through nine. This mirror is the servant's first

1022
01:01:20.119 --> 01:01:24.320
person language and Chapter forty nine, which opens with the

1023
01:01:24.400 --> 01:01:28.239
Lord called me from the womb, that same prophetic eye continues.

1024
01:01:28.320 --> 01:01:32.079
Clearly not Isaiah, but one call taught, beaten, and vindicated,

1025
01:01:32.360 --> 01:01:35.920
themes that consistently belong to the servant figure in Isaiah.

1026
01:01:36.360 --> 01:01:38.840
All right, So then it goes on and offers a

1027
01:01:39.000 --> 01:01:43.199
number of other things to justify it. So even trying

1028
01:01:43.239 --> 01:01:47.719
to plays the devil's advocate, even challenging even Ai is like,

1029
01:01:47.800 --> 01:01:50.280
there's just no way to do what he's just done here.

1030
01:01:50.719 --> 01:01:54.559
In fact, he's destroying the entire philological meaning of the

1031
01:01:54.679 --> 01:01:57.480
Servant's song. And if the servant's song is Christ, just

1032
01:01:57.679 --> 01:02:00.519
literally what he has done, just think about this, literally

1033
01:02:00.880 --> 01:02:07.599
just replaced Christ ultimately with you. He's taking a scripture

1034
01:02:07.760 --> 01:02:11.559
that is possibly about Christ and made it about you.

1035
01:02:11.679 --> 01:02:13.920
And I'm just gonna say possibly, because we have to

1036
01:02:14.000 --> 01:02:16.639
do a lot of deep, deep, deep deep work on this.

1037
01:02:16.920 --> 01:02:18.679
But hey, this is a church where you go to

1038
01:02:18.719 --> 01:02:21.719
get expository preaching. He gives you the meat. He doesn't

1039
01:02:21.760 --> 01:02:24.519
give you chicken nuggets. And yet we just heard what

1040
01:02:24.679 --> 01:02:25.639
we just heard.

1041
01:02:27.239 --> 01:02:30.039
He goes because the sovereign Lord, that word sovereign just

1042
01:02:30.079 --> 01:02:33.880
means he is in control. He helps me. I will

1043
01:02:33.960 --> 01:02:39.840
not be disgraced. Therefore I have here. It is set

1044
01:02:40.199 --> 01:02:44.840
my face like flint. Flint is another word for stone.

1045
01:02:45.320 --> 01:02:48.639
It means that I'm fixed. I'm not gonna be like

1046
01:02:49.320 --> 01:02:52.400
blown around by the waves of change. My eyes are

1047
01:02:52.480 --> 01:02:55.199
fixed upon becoming more and more like Christ. And I

1048
01:02:55.360 --> 01:02:57.800
know that all that effort, I will not be put

1049
01:02:57.880 --> 01:03:00.960
to shame and that's what these this eight week series

1050
01:03:01.079 --> 01:03:03.280
is all about. And actually, what I want you to

1051
01:03:03.320 --> 01:03:05.440
know is I've laid out all the message series for

1052
01:03:05.679 --> 01:03:07.840
twenty twenty five. And the way I lay out a

1053
01:03:07.920 --> 01:03:10.679
message series is kind of like a menu, like what

1054
01:03:11.119 --> 01:03:14.960
does our church body need to what nutrients do we

1055
01:03:15.079 --> 01:03:17.159
need to kind of carry us through?

1056
01:03:17.400 --> 01:03:22.519
And you don't lay out a sermon series based on

1057
01:03:22.599 --> 01:03:25.280
what the people need. You lay out a sermon series

1058
01:03:25.480 --> 01:03:27.360
based on what text you're going to cover, and what

1059
01:03:27.480 --> 01:03:30.880
does the text say? Not worried about the people's needs.

1060
01:03:31.039 --> 01:03:33.440
You're worried about the text because the text is the

1061
01:03:33.519 --> 01:03:36.039
Inerran inspired Word of God. And guess what the people

1062
01:03:36.119 --> 01:03:38.920
need the inerran inspired word of God. You don't start

1063
01:03:38.960 --> 01:03:42.239
to meet people's perceived needs. You give them the word

1064
01:03:42.239 --> 01:03:44.920
of God because that's what they need, whether they understand

1065
01:03:44.960 --> 01:03:46.800
it or not. But I digress, because what do I

1066
01:03:46.960 --> 01:03:49.440
know about church? Okay? Because he obviously knows. I mean,

1067
01:03:49.519 --> 01:03:52.199
look from a human perspective, he knows a million times

1068
01:03:52.239 --> 01:03:55.800
more than I do. He's got a church with a

1069
01:03:55.880 --> 01:03:59.280
four million dollars surplus and twelve thousand people.

1070
01:04:02.360 --> 01:04:04.719
Really kind of the mega theme for twenty twenty five

1071
01:04:06.159 --> 01:04:10.960
is preparing us to follow God wherever he may lead.

1072
01:04:13.280 --> 01:04:15.679
Just say, he's take turning this into that. This is

1073
01:04:15.719 --> 01:04:18.719
about preparing us to follow God wherever he may lead.

1074
01:04:22.239 --> 01:04:27.119
Oh man, So the people in Babylonian captivity, they don't matter.

1075
01:04:27.599 --> 01:04:31.480
Jesus obviously he doesn't matter because we just replaced him

1076
01:04:31.519 --> 01:04:31.840
with us.

1077
01:04:36.920 --> 01:04:39.280
And if you've been in our church over the last year,

1078
01:04:39.360 --> 01:04:42.000
you've heard me talk about this a lot, about like

1079
01:04:42.079 --> 01:04:45.199
the Great Awakenings and the fifth grade Awakening. You know

1080
01:04:45.320 --> 01:04:47.480
it could happen this year because every fifty years is

1081
01:04:47.519 --> 01:04:50.199
when God has sparked one, and that would be twenty

1082
01:04:50.280 --> 01:04:54.199
twenty five. And we don't, like you know, speculate that

1083
01:04:54.320 --> 01:04:57.800
God might do that. We do anticipate it, and we

1084
01:04:57.920 --> 01:05:00.760
anticipate God, would you please bring revie and would you

1085
01:05:00.880 --> 01:05:04.280
please bring awakening? And it could happen. It seems like

1086
01:05:04.519 --> 01:05:06.800
things are kind of getting set up where that could happen.

1087
01:05:07.280 --> 01:05:08.840
What I want you to know is that if that

1088
01:05:09.599 --> 01:05:13.039
does happen, we can expect resistance because the enemy isn't

1089
01:05:13.119 --> 01:05:16.599
just gonna roll over. And so if God is going

1090
01:05:16.679 --> 01:05:18.880
to bring revival and if he is gonna bring awakening,

1091
01:05:19.159 --> 01:05:21.480
then that means like right now, you need to get

1092
01:05:21.480 --> 01:05:24.840
your feet set right right now. You need to recognize

1093
01:05:25.079 --> 01:05:29.280
that there's going to be resistance, there's going to be battle,

1094
01:05:29.800 --> 01:05:34.199
and I want to prepare you for the man.

1095
01:05:34.320 --> 01:05:39.320
Okay, what is this? Every fit home? This sermon? We're

1096
01:05:39.360 --> 01:05:41.960
gonna have to stop. But I don't even know what

1097
01:05:42.079 --> 01:05:47.719
to say anymore. Then, oh my goodness, gracious, okay, all right,

1098
01:05:48.159 --> 01:05:51.960
So the pastor claims that every fifth year God brings

1099
01:05:52.000 --> 01:05:55.000
a great awakening. So I had to ask Ai, because

1100
01:05:55.000 --> 01:05:56.480
I mean, this is the quickest way for me to

1101
01:05:56.519 --> 01:06:00.360
be able to review this in real time. God. Ay,

1102
01:06:00.440 --> 01:06:03.280
I says, this does not appear to be historically accurate,

1103
01:06:03.880 --> 01:06:06.559
It does not appear to be biblically supported, and it

1104
01:06:06.639 --> 01:06:13.320
doesn't appear to be philologically grounded. In this message, the

1105
01:06:13.400 --> 01:06:16.800
pastor states something like, it seems that every five years,

1106
01:06:16.880 --> 01:06:19.679
or every fifth year, God does something significant. Every fifth

1107
01:06:19.800 --> 01:06:22.239
year it brings some kind of great awakening. This is

1108
01:06:22.360 --> 01:06:26.639
offered without citation or explanation, just as a casual spiritual observation,

1109
01:06:26.840 --> 01:06:32.159
with stated with authority. There is no historical pattern, biblically

1110
01:06:32.320 --> 01:06:34.480
or within church history that supports the idea that God

1111
01:06:34.559 --> 01:06:37.679
sends a great awakening every five years the three sometimes

1112
01:06:37.760 --> 01:06:41.480
four recognized great awakenings in American history, first Great Awakening

1113
01:06:41.599 --> 01:06:46.000
seventeen thirty to seventeen forty, the next one second seventeen

1114
01:06:46.119 --> 01:06:50.840
ninety to th eighteen thirty, the third eighteen fifty seven

1115
01:06:50.920 --> 01:06:56.239
to eighteen fifty nine. The fourth disputed, sometimes associated with

1116
01:06:56.320 --> 01:07:00.039
the nineteen sixties to the nineteen seventies Jesus movement, but

1117
01:07:00.280 --> 01:07:05.079
each was separated by decades, not five year intervals. In scripture,

1118
01:07:05.159 --> 01:07:07.440
there's no indication of God working on a five year

1119
01:07:07.519 --> 01:07:10.760
cycle of spiritual renewal. A scripture speaks of long periods

1120
01:07:10.800 --> 01:07:13.679
of silence and waiting four hundred years between Malachi and John.

1121
01:07:13.719 --> 01:07:18.079
The Baptist revival happening in times of great crisis or repentance,

1122
01:07:18.159 --> 01:07:21.679
not regular intervals. Awakening tied to God's sovereign purpose, not

1123
01:07:21.840 --> 01:07:26.079
human calendars. This kind of statement suggests a predictable pattern

1124
01:07:26.159 --> 01:07:30.039
of divine behavior and almost numerological approach to revival, the

1125
01:07:30.119 --> 01:07:33.079
idea that we can anticipate or time moves of God.

1126
01:07:33.599 --> 01:07:38.159
These ideas are dangerously closely are close to superstition, and

1127
01:07:38.239 --> 01:07:42.199
they trivialize true revival, which is sovereign, disruptive, and unpredictable,

1128
01:07:43.000 --> 01:07:50.039
true spiritual awakenings are often unplanned and are preceded by desperation,

1129
01:07:50.360 --> 01:07:56.519
not scheduling. It says, given the pastor's repeated claims about

1130
01:07:56.559 --> 01:08:01.320
commitment to expository preaching centering on God's unchanging word, avoiding hype,

1131
01:08:01.360 --> 01:08:05.239
emotionalism and entertainment, this statement undercuts every single thing the

1132
01:08:05.320 --> 01:08:08.039
pastor said in the interview. It sounds more like vague

1133
01:08:08.079 --> 01:08:13.519
prophecy or spiritual cliche than sober biblical preaching. You can't

1134
01:08:13.559 --> 01:08:16.039
say you're building on God's word and then sprinkle in

1135
01:08:16.560 --> 01:08:21.439
a historical, unverifiable revival math as a part of your appeal.

1136
01:08:21.720 --> 01:08:26.000
That's what AI said. AI gets frustrated. AI starts getting

1137
01:08:26.079 --> 01:08:28.359
very frustrated with this sermon at this point. Every time

1138
01:08:28.439 --> 01:08:32.399
I keep giving it the transcript, AI just is like,

1139
01:08:32.479 --> 01:08:34.439
you know, what more do you want me to say? Basically,

1140
01:08:34.760 --> 01:08:37.640
this thing's a mess. I don't even know what to say.

1141
01:08:37.840 --> 01:08:41.960
What he's done with Isaiah fifty seven is utterly frightening.

1142
01:08:42.359 --> 01:08:48.960
The misattributed citations are quotes citing A. C. S. Lewis

1143
01:08:49.079 --> 01:08:52.720
from the wrong book. All the just everything here is sloppy.

1144
01:08:53.119 --> 01:08:59.680
It's a mess. It's basically a life coach by who

1145
01:09:00.000 --> 01:09:03.600
doesn't seem to understand Isaiah fifty and what it's actually about.

1146
01:09:03.760 --> 01:09:05.720
And we're gonna have to stop right there because we're

1147
01:09:05.760 --> 01:09:08.199
at sixty nine minutes and I'm supposed to be ready

1148
01:09:08.239 --> 01:09:12.880
to teach again in about twenty minutes, so I I.

1149
01:09:17.399 --> 01:09:18.560
So what do we get?

1150
01:09:18.840 --> 01:09:22.239
We get a massive disconnect from everything the pastor said

1151
01:09:22.439 --> 01:09:24.960
to what the people actually get. But all you got

1152
01:09:25.039 --> 01:09:27.439
to do is convince the people that your church is

1153
01:09:27.439 --> 01:09:30.039
about the preaching and teaching of God's word and we're

1154
01:09:30.079 --> 01:09:33.399
not about entertainment. And then yet you can give them entertainment.

1155
01:09:34.199 --> 01:09:37.920
You can give them fun food, activities, fellowship potlucks, and

1156
01:09:38.039 --> 01:09:41.319
you can give them what you try to. You convince

1157
01:09:41.359 --> 01:09:43.840
them that what they're getting is actual, in depth teaching,

1158
01:09:44.039 --> 01:09:46.159
when in reality they're not getting in depth teaching. All

1159
01:09:46.199 --> 01:09:50.560
you got to do is convince the people, and if

1160
01:09:50.600 --> 01:09:53.840
the people buy into it, then you can give them

1161
01:09:54.159 --> 01:09:56.399
something completely different. So it sounds like what you have

1162
01:09:56.479 --> 01:09:58.920
to do in church. You've got to talk a big game,

1163
01:09:59.359 --> 01:10:01.840
so you con the people this is what we're getting,

1164
01:10:01.960 --> 01:10:03.840
But then you really got to kind of sneak in

1165
01:10:04.079 --> 01:10:07.279
and give them the entertainment, the activities, and you've got

1166
01:10:07.359 --> 01:10:09.640
to give them the water down Ted talks, because that's

1167
01:10:09.680 --> 01:10:12.079
what the people really want. They don't ever want to

1168
01:10:12.199 --> 01:10:14.880
claim that's what they want, but that's what they really want.

1169
01:10:15.039 --> 01:10:18.920
And that's how you build church. You say it's about this,

1170
01:10:19.800 --> 01:10:22.479
it sounds good, but then you give them this, and

1171
01:10:22.600 --> 01:10:24.960
this is what the people really want. You gotta give

1172
01:10:25.000 --> 01:10:29.399
the people what they really want, which is an absolute

1173
01:10:29.600 --> 01:10:35.159
abhorred I don't even know what you call it. It's

1174
01:10:35.199 --> 01:10:38.520
almost theoretical what he's doing to Isaiah, chapter fifty, verse seven.

1175
01:10:39.680 --> 01:10:43.560
And then you just throw in misattributed quotes, historical and

1176
01:10:43.720 --> 01:10:48.760
accurate things like they did in the interview. This nonsense

1177
01:10:48.840 --> 01:10:51.600
about the every fifth year, What is that even about.

1178
01:10:51.680 --> 01:10:58.960
I don't even know what that is even talking about. Oh,

1179
01:10:59.039 --> 01:11:02.039
ladies and gentlemen. I guess we'll we'll do some more

1180
01:11:02.079 --> 01:11:05.640
review of the sermon later, I guess do it. I

1181
01:11:05.720 --> 01:11:09.239
guess we I don't even know. I don't even know

1182
01:11:09.319 --> 01:11:11.279
if I want to do any more reviewing of the sermon.

1183
01:11:11.520 --> 01:11:14.159
I'll have to really give that some serious thought. I

1184
01:11:14.239 --> 01:11:16.880
really have to give this some serious thought, because basically

1185
01:11:16.960 --> 01:11:18.880
the rest of the sermon is just going to be about.

1186
01:11:20.279 --> 01:11:20.399
Us.

1187
01:11:21.600 --> 01:11:23.800
Maybe maybe we'll finish. I think we'll finish it, just

1188
01:11:23.840 --> 01:11:26.399
to be fair. I don't want to, but we'll finish it.

1189
01:11:26.439 --> 01:11:30.920
I'm gonna. Yeah, I got to say, we'll back it

1190
01:11:31.000 --> 01:11:33.199
up and we'll start with the Isaiah fifty stuff and

1191
01:11:33.279 --> 01:11:35.000
then we'll do it that. Now, well, yeah, I don't

1192
01:11:35.000 --> 01:11:37.319
even know what to say. All Right, I gotta get

1193
01:11:37.359 --> 01:11:40.760
ready for the next teaching. All right, I give up,

1194
01:11:40.840 --> 01:11:45.800
I quit. I'm done. I really. I just that that

1195
01:11:46.159 --> 01:11:58.359
that brings in twenty five or thirty million dollars. God

1196
01:11:58.399 --> 01:12:00.079
bless you.