Jan. 18, 2025

Isaiah 40:9-11 Baptism?

Isaiah 40:9-11 Baptism?

A review of a sermon on Isaiah 40:9-11

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A review of a sermon on Isaiah 40:9-11

WEBVTT

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Do I wait?

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Do I wait? Maybe I just sit here and wait?

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Come on? Should I I mean, look at your clock?

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I mean, do I say good morning? Or do I wait? Oh?

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I mean what should I do? I mean it says

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eleven fifty nine am. I mean, should I say good morning?

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Or do I say good afternoon in just a minute?

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Or do I wait? What do I do? What do

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I do? I've got to make a decision, ladies and gentlemen.

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What do I do? I'm just going to say good

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afternoon everyone. It is Saturday, January eighteenth, twenty twenty five.

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It is currently twelve pm Central time, and I'm coming

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to you live from the Theology Central studio located right

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here in Abilene, Texas. CE. I made the right decision.

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I just delay just a little bit and then we

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could go live straight up. Twelve noon. High noon, right,

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I mean that means like, oh, we're gonna have a shootout,

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right it's high noon. That means the outlaws are coming

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to town and the sheriff is gonna stand in the

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middle of the street as a tumbleweed. Blows by, and

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they're gonna have a they're gonna stare down, and then

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the music's gonna get dramatic, and then someone's gonna draw,

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and then there's gonna be shooting, and then okay, well

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maybe that's a little over dramatic. Okay, it is high noon.

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We're not gonna have a shootout. There's not gonna be

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any outlaws riding into town. There's not gonna be any shooting,

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but there is gonna be probably enough frustration, and that

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will drive me to the local saloon. So I probably

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by the time this is over, I'm just gonna be

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in the local saloon. And you can just wrap up

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the end of the broadcast. And why why do I

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think this broadcast is gonna drive me to the local saloon? Why? Well,

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because once again we are going to be reviewing another

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sermon on Isaiah chapter forty. All right, our sermon reviews

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on Isaiah forty forty one, forty two, forty three, they've all, man,

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they I just I'm still trying to process how it's possible,

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Like if someone would have told me, hey, just start

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listening to sermons on Isaiah chapter forty all the way

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through Isaiah chapter fifty five. And when you do this,

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you're going to find that you cannot find You're going

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to find you're going to discover that you cannot find

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a sermon that attempts to handle the text and anything

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remotely looking like a correct way. They're going to constantly

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insert us into the text. They're going to mishandle it,

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misinterpret it, misapply it. It's going to be an absolute

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train wreck. I probably would have looked at someone and said, oh,

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come on, I can't find one. I mean, that's that's

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a little bit of that's hyper that's I mean, look,

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I appreciate good hyperbole, but I mean, come on, we

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should be able to find some, right But so far

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I have not been able to find one, and it's

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very frustrating. So what I'm trying to change my focus

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now it's not so much about trying to find one. Now,

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it's not even about that. It's not even now about

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trying to demonstrate how you cannot find It's not even

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about trying to demonstrate that what I have said, that

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I cannot find one, it's true. It's not about even

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it's not about trying to find one. It's not about

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trying to prove that you can't find one. Really my

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focus now when I listen to sermons on Isaiah forty

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through Isaiah chapter fifty five, it's more about now just

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living inside the text, right, because the more sermons you

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listen to on Isaiah forty to Isaiah chapter fifty five,

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the more you listen to just the more you have

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to engage the text, the more you have to think

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about it, the more you have to interpret it, the

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more you have to struggle with it. So that just

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makes me better prepared. And what we have been doing,

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which is this lengthy series on Isaiah forty through fifty five.

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I don't think we're ever going to get done with

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chapter forty, but we are moving close. We're moving slowly,

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but we are at least moving forward right and tomorrow

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the goal was Isaiah chapter forty nine through eleven. That's

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where we have been. Isaiah chapter forty versus nine through eleven.

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We've already reviewed I think one or two sermons on

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Isaiah forty nine through eleven. They have been once again

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just it's I don't even know how to classify them.

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You classify them yourselves. But tomorrow, so here's what I'm

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going to do. I'm going to review a sermon on

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Isaiah forty nine through eleven, mainly just to keep me

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thinking about Isaiah forty nine through eleven, right, So it's

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just really helping me. I don't know. Tomorrow, we're just

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going to be doing a live stream. We're not going

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to be doing in person service. So I think tomorrow

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I may I may return back to our discussion about

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AI versus Lordship Salvation, because I think that's I think

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that we're really discovering something very interesting, and we started that,

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you know, in podcast form, so I don't want to

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necessarily take what should be a sermon and move it

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back to the podcast. I try to maintain some level

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of consistency if I'm doing things on the podcast and

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I leave it in the podcast. If I'm doing things

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in front of a live audience at church, then I

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try to keep it there so that when people are listening,

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there's some consistency. So I think that's what we may

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do tomorrow. I think that could be interesting. I'll just

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have to kind of put things back together and change

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things up a little bit, but I think I think

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it could be very beneficial. So today, just for my

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own sake, keeping my mind connected to Isaiah forty We're

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going to review a sermon and just to tell you,

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I mean, you tell me if you think this is

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going to go the right direction. This one is called

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are you ready the name of the sermon? He gathers

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the lambs open parentheses, baptism, close parentheses. He gathers the

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lambs baptism. Now right there should tell you this is

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not going to need to go well, because how in

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the world are we What does Isaiah chapter forty, verses

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nine to eleven have to do with baptism. The fact

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that this is somehow being connected to baptism at least,

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then the title is already concerning. Now, maybe this is

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just a baptism service and they're just using Isaiah forty

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nine to eleven. That's just happens to be the pre

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The sermon is on Isaiah forty nine to eleven, but

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they're not connecting it in any way, shape or form

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to baptism. That's what I'm hoping. I'm hoping, Oh, this

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is just a baptism service and they wanted everyone to

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know is a baptismal service. But the sermon was on

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Isaiah forty nine to eleven. It just happened to be

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a coincidence that the sermon happened on the day of

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a baptism. But they're not going to try to anyway

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take the text and apply it to baptism, because ladies

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and gentlemen, if they try to take Isaiah forty nine

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to eleven and apply it to baptism, well, as I

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stated in the opening, you're gonna find me in the

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local saloon because I'm not going I just I don't

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know how that happens. But so I'm going to try

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to be I'm going to try to be positive here

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and not be negative. That's what I always try to do.

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But here's the good thing. No matter how well this goes,

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or no matter how bad it goes, here's the good thing. Right,

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the good thing will be this. This is going to

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be another hour in Isaiah chapter forty. And if you

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put all the hours together that we have spent in

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Isaiah chapter forty as of this moment Saturday, January the eighteenth,

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twenty twenty five, if you put all of those moments

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we've spent in Isaiah chapter forty up to this moment,

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I think we can say we probably understand Isaiah forty

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better than we have ever in our lives. I think

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that's a fair assessment if you consider how many hours

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we have spent. I could go look it up right now.

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I don't even know how many hours it is. I

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bet you it's a considerable number of hours. If you

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want to go look it up. You can look up

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all the messages that we've done in Isaiah chapter forty

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through fifty five right now, and I think you would

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have to say, probably, you probably know more about it

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now than you ever have. I think, so I could

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be wrong. I'm going to at least I'm going to

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at least convince myself that that is true, so that

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I feel like I've accomplished something. But are you ready?

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I hope. So, so here we go. We are going

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to go to this now. Let me just make this

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very clear. The original sermon was recorded at such a

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low volume. I don't even have a I don't even

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know why they uploaded it because nobody can hear it, right.

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So I took it to increase the volume artificially, right.

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And I tried the first time and it still wasn't

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loud enough, so I had to delete that attempt to

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a second try then a third try, a fourth try,

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a fifth try, a sixth try. I had to keep

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just increasing the artificial amplification of this, and it was

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just ridiculous. How many times I think it took six

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times total to get this to a volume. And I

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still don't even know if the volume is loud enough,

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so I hope that it is. But here we go

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the goal here, Really, I think I think we're going

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to do this. The sermon is fifty minutes, so if

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we do a full review, you know that that's going

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to take four episodes that could and I don't I

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don't necessarily want to have to come back and do

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a part two to this. So I think what we're

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going to do, we're just going to look to see what. Okay,

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here's the basic things we're going to look for. How

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quickly are we inserted into Isaiah chapter forty you know

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we're going to be looking for that. How quickly? Two

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does the sermon try to somehow connect this to baptism,

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and if so, how? And three what is the basic

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thesis the basic hypothesis that they put forth and their

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interpretation of Isaiah forty nine to eleven? So how quickly

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are we inserted, do they connect it to baptism, and

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kind of basically what is their interpretation of the text.

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Once we've kind of been able to answer those three things,

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then there's really at that point there's I mean once

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especially if those three things are all negative, then there's

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no real point in continuing the sermon review. Right, We're

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just going to be able to mark this down. Is

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here's another approach to the text. Here's you should be

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keeping track of all the different ways we've heard these

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texts approach so far. I think I think we can

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summarize so far, in every single sermon that we have reviewed,

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the one thing that is in common. They insert us

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almost instantaneously, and they make the text more about They

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may mention the original context, but they make it about us.

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And I think we can say that that's been true

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in every situation. But here we go. I hope this

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goes well. I'm a little I'm skeptical, But here we go.

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We are going to review a sermon called He gathers

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the Lambs Baptism, supposedly based on Isaiah chapter forty. Here

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we go again. By the end of this, I'm going

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to end up in the local saloon I'm telling you right,

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here we go. For those who are just tuning in

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you have no idea what I'm referring to, just go

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back and listen to the introduction.

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Here we go, chapter forty, Isaiah Chapter forty, The Word

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of God and Isaiah Chapter forty. Comfort ye, comfort ye,

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my people, seth your God, speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,

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and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that

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her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the

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Lord's hand double for all her sins. The voice of

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Him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way

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of the Lord. Make straight in the desert to highway.

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For our God, every valley shall be exalted, and every

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mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked

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shall be made straight, and the rough place is plain,

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And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and

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all flesh shall see it together. For the mouth of

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the Lord hath spoken it. The voice said, cry, And

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he said, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass,

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and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of

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the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth. Because the

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spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely the people

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is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth. But the

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word of our God shall stand forever. O Zion that

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bringetht good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain.

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O Jerusalem that bringeth good tidings, Lift up thy voice

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with strength, lift it up. Be not afraid, say unto

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the cities of Judah, behold your God. Behold the Lord

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God will come with strong hand, and his arms shall

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rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and

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his war before him. He shall feed his flock like

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a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with his arm

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and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead

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those that are with young. Who hath measured the waters

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in the hollow of his hand, meeted out heaven with

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the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in

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a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales and the

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hills in a balance. Who hath directed the spirit of

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the Lord, or being his Counselor hath taught him with

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whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught

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him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge,

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and showed to him the way of understanding. Behold, the

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nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are

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counted as the small dust of the balance. Behold, he

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taketh up the aisles as a very little thing, and

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Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, or the beasts thereof

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efficient for a burnt offering. All nations before him are

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as nothing, and they are counted to him less than

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nothing in vanity. To whom then will ye liken God?

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Or what likeness will ye compare unto him? The workman

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melteth the graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over

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with gold, and casteth silver chains. He that is so

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impoverished that he hath no oblation, chooseth a tree that

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will not rot. He seeketh unto him a cunning workman,

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to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved.

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Have you not known? Have you not heard? Hath it

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not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood?

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From the foundations of the earth. It is he that

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setteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants

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thereof are as grasshoppers that stretcheth out the heavens as

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a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to

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dwell in, that bringeth the princes to nothing. He maketh

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the judges of the earth as vanity. Yea, they shall

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not be planted. YEA, they shall not be sown.

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Yea.

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Their stock shall not take root in the earth. And

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he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither,

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and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. To

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whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal?

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Seth the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high,

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and behold who hath created these things that bringeth out

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their host by number. He calleth them all by names,

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by the greatness of his might, For that he is

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strong in power. Not one faileth. Why sayest thou, o Jacob,

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and speakest o Israel. My way is hid from the Lord,

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and my judgment is passed over from my God. Hast

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thou not known? Hast thou not heard? That the Everlasting God,

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the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth,

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fainteth not, neither is weary. There is no searching of

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his understanding. He giveth power to the faint, and to

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them that have no might. He increaseth strength. Even the

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youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men

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shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord

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shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings

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

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they shall walk and not faint.

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Okay, well, one positive thing in this as we heard

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the entire chapter read, that's a positive. Right, We're going

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to look for the positive. We still are waiting now,

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So he's just read the entire chapter now, and all

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of these reviews that we've done on sermons between from

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Isaiah chapter forty through Isaiah chapter fifty five, you know

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what we're waiting for? How quickly? How soon is it

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going to be before we are inserted into a text

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that has nothing to do with us, Right, how quickly

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is that going to occur? So, and most of the

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sermons it happens almost instantaneously. In some cases it happens

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even in the title of the sermons. So we're going

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to see. Remember we always go into these sermon reviews

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completely blind. We don't know what's going to happen. I'm

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listening to it for the first time, and so we're

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going to see. So how quickly are we going to

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be inserted into the text. I'm going to repeat those

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three things. I'm going to be looking for how quickly

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are we going to be inserted into the text because

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baptism is in the title of this sermon. I want

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to know how when the world Isaiah forty is going

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to be connected to baptism, right. And number three, we

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just want to know how ultimately, what is going to

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be the hypotheses, the hypothetical, you know, interpretation that is

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put forth, and we're going to be able to try

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to determine if we agree or disagree. Now, supposedly the

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focus of this is going to be in Isaiah forty

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nine through eleven. Supposedly. Again, so many times it will

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grab a sermon, look at the description. We'll listen. In

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many cases I never even covered the text they say

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they're going to cover. But supposedly it's Isaiah forty nine

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to eleven. The good thing is if it's anywhere in

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chapter forty, considering we are going, you know, we're doing

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our own verse by verse from Isaiah chapter forty all

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the way through Isaiah chapter fifty five, and it's going

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to take us forever. So no matter where it goes,

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we can still utilize this and it still keeps us

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in the text. But we will see so he read

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the entire chapter. That's a good thing. At least everyone

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has seen whatever he looks at. Everyone has seen the

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full context. Now it would be curious, though, I am

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fascinated by this, how people can sit in the pew

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because we've how many sermons have we reviewed so far

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on Isaiah forty through fifty five. It's a crazy but

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they'll sit in the pew. In many cases, the churches

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will read large sections of the chapter and every situation

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that we've seen the chapter will clearly indicate who this

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is to and who this is about. Then the German

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goes makes it all about them, and nobody in the

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and everybody in the congregation is amenning or seemingly loving it,

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and they're like, wait a minute, do you not realize

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so we've already seen right here, and just if well,

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if we'll just I'm just going to go through this quickly,

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just to show you, all right, Isaiah chapter forty verse one,

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Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people. Now, who are the

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people in the context with other people in the context?

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Are the people in chapter thirty nine who go to

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Babylonian captivity? We already know historically that these words of

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comfort Isaiah forty through fifty five is the Book of

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Comfort of the Book of Consolation was given about one

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hundred between one hundred, one hundred and twenty years before

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they even go into captivity. But these are words of

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comfort to people in Babylonian captivity. Chapter thirty nine Versus

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five through eight clearly indicates that so now there is

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a call to comfort those people. The people are the

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people in Babylonian captivity, speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. It's

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even making it very clear who it's referring to. Then

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if you go down, if you look at verse nine,

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Oh Zion, that bringeth good tidings, get thee up into

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the highest mountains, Oh Jerusalem, that bring good tidings. Lift

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up thy voice with strength, lift it up. Be not

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afraid say onto the cities of Judah. Like we could

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go through this section. It may the writer does everything

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in his power, okay, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,

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to make sure everyone knows exactly who it's about. But

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preachers just come in and go, I don't care. We're

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gonna insert us into it. Now. People say, well, isn't

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it applicable that's applicable if we first understand what it

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means to the original people and our application is consistent

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with that, and in some cases it may not be.

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So we've worked on all of this. Now let's see

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what happens. He's read the whole chapter. That is a positive.

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Now let's see what happens. All right, what do you

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think do we want to put bats?

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Now?

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How how long is it going to take before you

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and I are inted into this? Instead of using they them,

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it's going to use things like I, US, WEE me you.

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Let's see if that happens quickly. I'm hoping that this

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is going to be the first example of where that

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doesn't happen.

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We read the word of God that far this morning,

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and the text for our sermon is versy eleven. He

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shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather

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the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom,

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and shall gently lead those that are with young.

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That dramatic pause is not because anything's happened to the audio.

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There's just a long pause here, So like whit what happened?

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Did the broadcast end? Okay? Now just he's there's a

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long pause here. As he's I don't know, maybe getting

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his notes together. I don't know. I'm not looking at

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the video. So here we go. We get wet. Oh,

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let's see what happens.

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Belove it. In the Lord Jesus Christ, Isaiah chapter forty

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is a beautiful word of comfort to God's people. In

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the first thirty nine chapters of this prophecy, Isaiah was

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called to bring words of rebuke to the people of

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Judah on account of their sins, and to warn them

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about the coming captivity in Babylon.

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Oh wow, ladies and gentlemen, this is good he's he

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literally started, not with us, He started with the original context.

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I am so happy. This is good news, ladies and gentlemen.

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This is good news. He goes to the first thirty

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nine chapters. Yes, there were words of rebuke and warns

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and words of warning of judgment. Chapter forty is the

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traumatic change. Forty through fifty five is the book of

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consolation and book of comfort. Okay, great, this is awesome.

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I'm I'm I'm happy this. This is good news, ladies.

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And maybe this is going to be the one this

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is going to break. I mean, we're over like one

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hundred now. This is going to be good, right, are

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we ready? Let's see, let's I'm I'm I'm holding out

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hope here.

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But now beginning here in chapter forty, God commands Isaiah

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to speak words of comfort to his people. Comfort e,

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comfort e my people, sef your God. The word of

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comfort that Isaiah has called to proclaim is the comfort

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of the pardon of their sins and the that God

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would bring them back from captivity and restore them again

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in the Promised Land.

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Okay, really good, And I just remember God has Isaiah

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put these words down. But Isaiah is dead before they

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go into captivity from everything that we have been able

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to establish. Okay, but that's fine. But this is this

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is all good though he's talking about these are words

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of comfort to people in captivity, Babylonian captivity. Okay, great,

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everything is at least being placed in its proper textual

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and historical context. That is. I am so happy for that.

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I am so happy for that. I'm just curious where

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this is going to go now.

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And throughout chapter forty, God reminds his people of who

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he is. What's emphasized throughout the chapter is the greatness,

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the power, the sovereignty of God there's none that can

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compare to him. There is none that can be made

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equal to God. He's so highly exalted above all as

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the sovereign God of might, who's able to provide for

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the needs of his people. But not only must Isaiah

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remind the people that God is sovereign and powerful, He's

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also called to remind them that God is a God

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of tender mercy.

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Now I would throw in here. He is reminding them

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of all these attributes and characteristics of God and contrast

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to the idols of Babylon and the false deities of Babylon.

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We already did this in our discussion of Isaiah forty.

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We spend a considerable amount of time, and when we

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get further into Isaiah chapter forty, we'll spend well repeat

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a lot of what we have said. Go look at

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the religious belief of the Babylonians, all of their deities,

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all of their idols, all the different just everything about it.

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And you can see these people have been in Babylonian captivity.

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If they're reaching the end of that captivity, they've been

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there seventy years, right or almost seventy years, getting close

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to seventy years. Well, during that time, remember people have

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been born in captivity, people came into captivity and died.

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You really have Now this is going to be the

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generation of Babylon. This is going to be the Babylonian generation.

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They've now been influenced by Babylon. They've been around all

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of their religious beliefs and their religious idols and all

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they've been around that. So now in this word of

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comfort is to remind them, now, this is the true

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God in contrast to all the Babylonian deities. So the

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more you know about the Babylonian religious, understanding their philosophy

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and their beliefs, then it makes great sense when you

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contrast this year, like, oh, he's caught trusting this because

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the Babylonian deities would be this way. So you could

463
00:28:04.400 --> 00:28:06.960
do you could actually do a little bit of research.

464
00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:11.799
Contrast all the things said about God and Isaiah forty

465
00:28:11.960 --> 00:28:16.960
and contrast that with the beliefs and about the Babylonian

466
00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:21.240
deities and their gods, and you'll see a great contrast.

467
00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:23.359
And we will do that when we get there. Now

468
00:28:23.400 --> 00:28:26.079
I know his goal here. He's not necessarily trying to

469
00:28:26.119 --> 00:28:28.119
take the whole text apart. He wants to focus on

470
00:28:28.200 --> 00:28:30.359
verse eleven. So it makes perfect sense why he would

471
00:28:30.400 --> 00:28:32.440
not go into all of that right now. I'm just

472
00:28:32.480 --> 00:28:34.640
saying that if you're going to work to Isaiah forty,

473
00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:37.440
at some point you have to address that, because that's

474
00:28:37.440 --> 00:28:42.680
what's happening here. This is the Babylonian generation, and they've

475
00:28:42.720 --> 00:28:49.400
been influenced by Babylonian religion and that polytheistic idolatry. Yeah,

476
00:28:49.440 --> 00:28:52.880
and so God is establishing, no, this is the true

477
00:28:52.920 --> 00:29:04.359
God and compared to those false gods.

478
00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:09.680
And pity of love and grace to his own. That

479
00:29:09.759 --> 00:29:16.119
thought is conveyed in our text. As our shepherd, God

480
00:29:16.400 --> 00:29:20.200
cares for all of his sheep in all of their needs.

481
00:29:22.279 --> 00:29:25.559
There we go. We've just got inserted into it. As

482
00:29:25.759 --> 00:29:30.720
our shepherd, He cares about all our needs. Did you

483
00:29:30.759 --> 00:29:32.640
hear that? Now? See, this is where we have to

484
00:29:32.640 --> 00:29:35.680
be very careful because you can take from this now

485
00:29:35.720 --> 00:29:38.200
and Isaiah forty the needs that are going to be

486
00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:40.640
met here. The provision that's going to be met here

487
00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:44.039
is for the people in Babylonian captivity, and these needs

488
00:29:44.079 --> 00:29:46.640
and these provisions that's going to be met is based

489
00:29:46.680 --> 00:29:50.359
off God's specific promises to them over and over in

490
00:29:50.400 --> 00:29:53.480
the Old Testament. When God promises Israel this or this

491
00:29:53.599 --> 00:29:55.680
or this, and He's going to provide this. It's all

492
00:29:55.720 --> 00:29:59.400
based off the covenants that God made with them specifically

493
00:29:59.440 --> 00:30:01.880
to do the those things. You got to be very

494
00:30:01.920 --> 00:30:04.680
careful that you say, we'll see how God's going to provide,

495
00:30:04.880 --> 00:30:07.039
and God's going to do this, and God's going to

496
00:30:07.079 --> 00:30:09.799
do this, and God's going to do this, and then

497
00:30:09.880 --> 00:30:12.440
somehow make it like tell the people in the pew

498
00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:15.680
that this is somehow applicable to them, and God's going

499
00:30:15.720 --> 00:30:18.480
to do something similar for you. Wait a minute, here,

500
00:30:18.599 --> 00:30:21.640
God is intervening. He's going to do so through ordinary means,

501
00:30:21.640 --> 00:30:24.680
through Cyrus, and he's going to release them from their

502
00:30:24.720 --> 00:30:30.640
Babylonian captivity. He's going to do something in a very tangible, physical,

503
00:30:31.000 --> 00:30:35.440
material way. You got to be very careful when you say, hey, hey, guys,

504
00:30:35.480 --> 00:30:38.119
you're out there. God's going to meet your needs. God's

505
00:30:38.160 --> 00:30:40.039
going to do this for you, or God's going to

506
00:30:40.079 --> 00:30:42.400
defend you. God's going to protect you. You've got to

507
00:30:42.440 --> 00:30:44.880
be very careful. I can pull up a story right

508
00:30:44.920 --> 00:30:48.000
now about the Creation Museum. They have a I guess

509
00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:50.599
they have like a praise ban there and one of

510
00:30:50.599 --> 00:30:53.680
the members of that praise ban has been arrested, and well,

511
00:30:53.720 --> 00:30:59.640
he sexually molested assaulted a young a teenager. I guess

512
00:30:59.640 --> 00:31:02.720
there's eighty counts. It's like the story was on the

513
00:31:02.759 --> 00:31:06.480
Christian Post. I was gonna do a podcast about it yesterday. Well,

514
00:31:07.400 --> 00:31:10.440
now when Christians see that, they're like, oh, this is horrible.

515
00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:13.279
He was ungodly, he was never saved. Like, wait, what

516
00:31:13.400 --> 00:31:15.920
about the victim? I know what we want to talk about,

517
00:31:15.920 --> 00:31:18.359
whether this person in the praise band was saved or

518
00:31:18.359 --> 00:31:21.720
not saved or how on God? What about the victim?

519
00:31:22.279 --> 00:31:26.599
The victim was eighty counts. I won't go into all

520
00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:30.240
the details of the case because it's somewhat disturbing, but

521
00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:36.880
eighty counts was God they're protecting? Was God they're looking

522
00:31:36.920 --> 00:31:41.119
after this young person who was being sexually assaulted and molested.

523
00:31:41.240 --> 00:31:43.680
Do I need to pull up all the statistics about

524
00:31:43.720 --> 00:31:46.880
how many children, how many young people have been sexually

525
00:31:46.960 --> 00:31:52.759
assaulted and molested inside churches? So see, when you give

526
00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:55.200
some kind of when you just say God's our shepherd

527
00:31:55.240 --> 00:31:57.160
and He's gonna care for us, you go to explain

528
00:31:57.240 --> 00:32:01.200
what that means, because you can get the idea that well,

529
00:32:01.240 --> 00:32:03.000
God's gonna be right there, he's gonna take care of this.

530
00:32:03.039 --> 00:32:04.759
He's gonna take care of this. He's gonna take care

531
00:32:04.759 --> 00:32:06.519
of this, and some way to go wait to take

532
00:32:06.519 --> 00:32:10.559
care of what. You see, my child died, my wife

533
00:32:10.640 --> 00:32:14.079
has cancer like this has happened. This has happened. So

534
00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:17.680
you have to explain what it means, because sometimes these

535
00:32:17.680 --> 00:32:20.440
are specific promises of God doing something for a specific

536
00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:24.000
people within a specific context, based off a specific covenant.

537
00:32:25.839 --> 00:32:28.079
I think we have to we have to at least

538
00:32:28.200 --> 00:32:32.119
articulate that, now, what God does for us, Come on,

539
00:32:32.240 --> 00:32:34.920
let's be honest, most of it is for what he

540
00:32:34.960 --> 00:32:39.519
does for us spiritually. Right, Okay, well let's let's let's

541
00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:41.920
let's see where he goes with it. But just note

542
00:32:41.960 --> 00:32:44.960
you just see how quickly us got inserted. Now he's

543
00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:47.519
taken He's done a good job giving us the history,

544
00:32:47.559 --> 00:32:50.000
but all of a sudden it went from them to

545
00:32:50.400 --> 00:32:53.799
r the us. All of a sudden, we've been inserted

546
00:32:53.799 --> 00:32:57.000
into it. Well, that's great if you're gonna add application,

547
00:32:57.279 --> 00:33:00.960
but you've got to be careful what you're applying. When

548
00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:03.680
he feeds his flock like a shepherd, Okay, if you're

549
00:33:03.680 --> 00:33:05.839
going to make that about us, how does he feed us.

550
00:33:06.759 --> 00:33:08.559
Now we have to get into Now we can get

551
00:33:08.599 --> 00:33:11.880
into some lots of discussions here. Right, does he always

552
00:33:11.920 --> 00:33:14.240
feed people? How about all the people who starve? You

553
00:33:14.240 --> 00:33:16.319
want to know how many people starve to death every

554
00:33:16.359 --> 00:33:19.799
single day in this world? The numbers are somewhat staggering.

555
00:33:21.680 --> 00:33:23.680
So those are the questions we have to have. Let's

556
00:33:23.680 --> 00:33:27.079
see if it's going, if it's just gonna briefly mention

557
00:33:27.240 --> 00:33:29.559
us and then go right back to the original recipients,

558
00:33:29.640 --> 00:33:32.000
or if it's going to continue this course.

559
00:33:35.480 --> 00:33:39.720
He takes the little lambs in his arms and holds

560
00:33:39.759 --> 00:33:43.680
them in his bosom, and he gently leads those that

561
00:33:43.839 --> 00:33:47.640
are with young. How great is our God in his

562
00:33:48.240 --> 00:33:56.640
sovereignty and power? How great is his mercy, his compassion,

563
00:33:57.079 --> 00:34:04.000
and his tenderness towards uh. That's a good word of

564
00:34:04.160 --> 00:34:08.280
comfort for us. That's a word of comfort that we

565
00:34:08.360 --> 00:34:13.440
all stand in need of as God's people, whether old

566
00:34:14.079 --> 00:34:19.400
or young, male or female, single or married, rich or poor,

567
00:34:20.159 --> 00:34:24.639
we all have our own struggles in this earthly life,

568
00:34:24.719 --> 00:34:30.760
the common struggle against sin and our sinful natures, and

569
00:34:30.800 --> 00:34:34.679
the struggles with the various burdens and trials that God

570
00:34:34.760 --> 00:34:41.599
sends upon us. We need comfort.

571
00:34:40.480 --> 00:34:43.760
Now please note he's taking these words of comfort that

572
00:34:43.840 --> 00:34:47.159
are for people in Babylonian captivity, and now these words

573
00:34:47.159 --> 00:34:49.920
of comfort are being somehow stated as if they are

574
00:34:49.960 --> 00:34:53.719
for you and they are for me. Well, now, so

575
00:34:54.000 --> 00:34:57.559
exact now when you are going to draw this connection, Well,

576
00:34:57.559 --> 00:34:59.880
wait a minute, wait a minute. What comfort are you

577
00:35:00.119 --> 00:35:03.719
saying is because God here is going to intervene in

578
00:35:03.760 --> 00:35:07.239
a material, physical way. He's going to literally deliver them

579
00:35:07.239 --> 00:35:11.320
from literal bondage, from literal captivity. He's literally going to

580
00:35:11.320 --> 00:35:15.119
bring them back into a literal land. Now, so, so

581
00:35:15.239 --> 00:35:17.280
are you saying that God's gonna comfort us in the

582
00:35:17.280 --> 00:35:22.280
most literal physical way, providing us in very literal or

583
00:35:22.320 --> 00:35:26.199
physical ways. That's where you have to Then some this

584
00:35:26.400 --> 00:35:31.400
just becomes it becomes sentimentalism, it becomes vague, right, oh okay,

585
00:35:31.519 --> 00:35:33.760
so that people's like, oh, God's gonna comfort me. God's

586
00:35:33.760 --> 00:35:35.880
going to do this for me. What are the people

587
00:35:35.920 --> 00:35:39.440
going to whether you like it or not. In preaching,

588
00:35:39.480 --> 00:35:41.400
I know this to be true. You can say something

589
00:35:41.559 --> 00:35:43.559
and then people later will say you said this, and

590
00:35:43.559 --> 00:35:45.400
you're like, wait, what are you talking about? I never

591
00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:48.599
said that. I never meant what I've known. No, No, no,

592
00:35:48.639 --> 00:35:50.719
and you'll go back and listen like, how did they

593
00:35:50.880 --> 00:35:54.800
draw that conclusion from that statement? That's why sometimes you

594
00:35:54.840 --> 00:35:58.559
have to be extremely blunt, or people will misrepresent what

595
00:35:58.639 --> 00:36:02.519
you said completely. How will people sitting there who are

596
00:36:02.639 --> 00:36:06.760
going through some difficulty, some pain, some grief, some suffering,

597
00:36:06.920 --> 00:36:09.239
and some need and hear that God is going to

598
00:36:09.360 --> 00:36:12.119
gather them and put him in his arms. He's gonna

599
00:36:12.159 --> 00:36:14.960
gather he's gonna feed them, He's gonna do this, He's

600
00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:18.480
going to do this now once first you're taking verses

601
00:36:18.519 --> 00:36:20.760
that this has nothing to do with you, This has

602
00:36:20.840 --> 00:36:22.679
to do with them. But if you're gonna make it

603
00:36:22.679 --> 00:36:25.760
about us, you've got to explain exactly how this works.

604
00:36:26.840 --> 00:36:30.440
What can I expect? What should I not expect? Because

605
00:36:30.440 --> 00:36:33.000
if people have an expectation of God doing the A

606
00:36:33.239 --> 00:36:36.360
b CD, E f G when there is no promise

607
00:36:36.360 --> 00:36:38.360
that he's actually going to do that, people are going

608
00:36:38.400 --> 00:36:43.000
to be left disappointed, discouraged, despondent, and you know what

609
00:36:43.119 --> 00:36:46.679
they may end up They may end up start deconstructing, thinking, well,

610
00:36:46.760 --> 00:36:51.880
this just doesn't work. You promised me, well, because people

611
00:36:51.920 --> 00:36:56.960
gave you promises that weren't meant for you, all right,

612
00:36:57.000 --> 00:36:59.440
So let's see how he's gonna hand. He's got a

613
00:36:59.480 --> 00:37:01.880
long ways to go. He's just introducing it. But this

614
00:37:02.039 --> 00:37:03.880
is giving me that vibe of that kind of a

615
00:37:03.960 --> 00:37:08.559
sentimental sermon. It makes everyone feel good, everyone feels encouraged.

616
00:37:09.119 --> 00:37:12.360
But what does it mean in the most practical way?

617
00:37:12.719 --> 00:37:15.440
What is God going to do or not do? What

618
00:37:15.480 --> 00:37:21.039
can you expect or not expect? What is what? Because man,

619
00:37:21.280 --> 00:37:25.000
Christianity loves to sell its message sometimes almost like it's

620
00:37:25.039 --> 00:37:27.599
an infocommercial. Oh, God's gonna do this for you, and

621
00:37:27.599 --> 00:37:30.039
God's going to do this for you. But wait, there's

622
00:37:30.119 --> 00:37:33.480
more call Now God will throw in this, this, this,

623
00:37:33.480 --> 00:37:36.639
this and this and then sometimes people after a couple

624
00:37:36.639 --> 00:37:38.840
of years or like God didn't do any of that?

625
00:37:39.079 --> 00:37:41.519
What are you talking about? Well, and then you go

626
00:37:41.599 --> 00:37:46.719
find out hmmm, maybe just maybe there was some major

627
00:37:46.760 --> 00:37:51.599
misapplication of the text.

628
00:37:53.159 --> 00:37:55.960
But this word of God is also fitting at the

629
00:37:56.000 --> 00:38:02.239
occasion of infant baptism. It's the word of comfort that

630
00:38:02.320 --> 00:38:08.039
has special application to the little lambs of God's covenant

631
00:38:08.920 --> 00:38:09.880
and the mothers.

632
00:38:13.039 --> 00:38:18.639
Oh wow, now what just happened? How does Isaiah forty

633
00:38:18.800 --> 00:38:23.199
verse eleven have anything to do with infant baptism and

634
00:38:23.360 --> 00:38:26.280
anything to do with the mothers bringing their infants to

635
00:38:26.320 --> 00:38:37.559
be baptized. Oh man, I don't even under that is

636
00:38:37.639 --> 00:38:41.679
a lead. Okay, all right. As promising as this all started,

637
00:38:41.840 --> 00:38:45.280
see this goes, this is following the same trajectory. Sermon.

638
00:38:45.519 --> 00:38:47.440
Now this one takes it to a far new level.

639
00:38:47.719 --> 00:38:49.840
Now we are in Isaiah forty verse eleven, and we're

640
00:38:49.840 --> 00:38:59.559
gonna connect this to infant baptism. Oh so, so do

641
00:38:59.599 --> 00:39:04.280
we understand that when we baptize a baby, now the

642
00:39:04.320 --> 00:39:07.960
baby becomes I don't know, a part of the flock.

643
00:39:08.320 --> 00:39:10.800
Are you saying the corporate body or are you saying

644
00:39:10.840 --> 00:39:13.840
the spiritual body? Are you saying it sacramento regenerate? Is

645
00:39:13.880 --> 00:39:17.880
it regenerating the baby? And so now now he's going

646
00:39:17.960 --> 00:39:19.800
to gather that baby as a lamb, and he's going

647
00:39:19.880 --> 00:39:22.639
to carry it, and he's gonna gently lead it ensuring.

648
00:39:22.800 --> 00:39:25.880
I guess then a child who's been infantly, who's been

649
00:39:25.920 --> 00:39:28.519
baptized as an infant, is going to be protected by God.

650
00:39:28.599 --> 00:39:30.519
So nothing bad is ever going to happen to it. Like,

651
00:39:30.559 --> 00:39:35.360
what do you mean by this? I've known plenty of

652
00:39:35.400 --> 00:39:38.360
people who've been baptized as babies and their lives turned

653
00:39:38.360 --> 00:39:46.079
into absolute, total tragedy, devastation, destruction, drug use, sin, pain, suffering.

654
00:39:46.840 --> 00:39:50.719
So the infant baptism didn't do anything for them? So

655
00:39:51.199 --> 00:39:54.679
was the water broken on that particular day? Like, how

656
00:39:54.679 --> 00:39:57.239
do we understand that? I mean, you're using Isaiah forty

657
00:39:57.280 --> 00:39:59.719
verse eleven and connecting it to infant baptism. Oh, I

658
00:39:59.760 --> 00:40:04.360
got here, I got to hear how this goes? All? Right?

659
00:40:05.320 --> 00:40:06.119
Let's see.

660
00:40:08.039 --> 00:40:12.639
As the word of God here speaks of God's tender care,

661
00:40:12.960 --> 00:40:17.400
taking the little lambs into his arms and carrying them

662
00:40:17.400 --> 00:40:23.760
close to his heart, gently leading those that are with young.

663
00:40:26.480 --> 00:40:29.440
Consider this word of God this morning under the theme

664
00:40:29.559 --> 00:40:35.119
he gathers the lambs, first the needy sheep, secondly the

665
00:40:35.199 --> 00:40:44.280
tender shepherd, and then thirdly the certain outcome. The text

666
00:40:44.360 --> 00:40:50.079
is describing God's leading of his people on a pilgrimage

667
00:40:50.639 --> 00:40:56.800
or a journey. Although Isaiah prophesied some hundreds of years

668
00:40:56.880 --> 00:41:01.400
before the return from captivity go, God gives Isaiah to

669
00:41:01.519 --> 00:41:06.960
speak as if that return is already a reality, as

670
00:41:07.000 --> 00:41:10.800
if God's people have already returned. So certain is that

671
00:41:10.880 --> 00:41:16.119
promise of God. God will take them into Babylon to

672
00:41:16.360 --> 00:41:20.159
chasten them for their sins, but he will not leave

673
00:41:20.280 --> 00:41:23.639
them there. He will bring his people back again to

674
00:41:23.880 --> 00:41:27.599
the land of Promise. And though the promise of the

675
00:41:27.760 --> 00:41:32.239
return is a word of comfort and joy in itself,

676
00:41:33.960 --> 00:41:37.800
that means for the people of God a journey from

677
00:41:37.880 --> 00:41:41.480
Babylon to the Promised Land, and a journey that would

678
00:41:41.480 --> 00:41:47.480
be difficult. The way from Babylon to the Promised Land

679
00:41:48.400 --> 00:41:57.039
was a treacherous path, went through difficult desert terrain. God's

680
00:41:57.079 --> 00:42:01.400
people would have been exposed along the way to enemies

681
00:42:01.719 --> 00:42:05.239
and robbers that would seek to take advantage of them.

682
00:42:05.559 --> 00:42:09.960
And God's people would be a small remnant in comparison

683
00:42:10.039 --> 00:42:13.039
to their enemies and the nations around them. They were

684
00:42:13.280 --> 00:42:17.000
just a small remnant that would be taken back to

685
00:42:17.280 --> 00:42:22.920
the Promised Land. They were vulnerable, and they might be

686
00:42:23.039 --> 00:42:31.440
tempted to be discouraged, exhausted, and weary on account of

687
00:42:32.159 --> 00:42:39.840
the way. They needed comfort. But not only do the

688
00:42:39.880 --> 00:42:43.519
people of God need comfort because of the difficulty of

689
00:42:43.599 --> 00:42:48.079
God's way of leading them, they also need that comfort

690
00:42:48.119 --> 00:42:54.639
and especially on account of their own weaknesses. And that's

691
00:42:54.679 --> 00:42:58.880
what's conveyed in our text when it refers to God's

692
00:42:58.920 --> 00:43:04.199
people as sheep. That's an illustration that's used many times

693
00:43:04.239 --> 00:43:09.039
throughout the Word of God. To describe God's people, we're sheep.

694
00:43:10.480 --> 00:43:19.679
Sheep are not nice, clean, intelligent creatures. They're often very dirty.

695
00:43:21.440 --> 00:43:26.480
They're foolish. We would say, they don't have any common sense.

696
00:43:27.079 --> 00:43:31.039
They're very easily led astray and go off from the

697
00:43:31.079 --> 00:43:35.239
shepherd and the rest of the flock and get all entangled.

698
00:43:36.320 --> 00:43:42.960
They're prone to be weary and exhausted. They're difficult creatures.

699
00:43:42.960 --> 00:43:46.519
They're often stubborn, so that though the shepherd tries to

700
00:43:46.639 --> 00:43:49.559
lead them in a certain way and stubbornness, they want

701
00:43:49.639 --> 00:43:53.880
to go off in their own way. Sheep are in

702
00:43:53.960 --> 00:44:00.519
anyways defenseless and helpless. They have no sufficiency in themselves.

703
00:44:00.599 --> 00:44:05.840
They have no way of protecting themselves from predators. They

704
00:44:05.840 --> 00:44:12.039
are wholly dependent upon a shepherd, a tender shepherd, to

705
00:44:12.280 --> 00:44:19.239
lead them, to protect them, and to feed them.

706
00:44:19.320 --> 00:44:21.440
Now, if you're going to go into all of those

707
00:44:21.559 --> 00:44:29.039
descriptions about sheep, well in Isaiah forty eleven, you would

708
00:44:29.079 --> 00:44:34.840
then have to apply all of those descriptions to Israel,

709
00:44:34.920 --> 00:44:40.239
to Judah, because that's who it's about. That's what you

710
00:44:40.239 --> 00:44:42.239
would have to do first. So if you're like, hey,

711
00:44:42.280 --> 00:44:44.440
we're in Isaiah forour and again just look at the

712
00:44:44.559 --> 00:44:47.880
very text. Now he keeps menching the historical context. Well,

713
00:44:47.880 --> 00:44:51.480
the historical context. If you're gonna say, well, he calls

714
00:44:51.519 --> 00:44:53.800
the people's sheep, or he refers to them as sheep, Well,

715
00:44:54.039 --> 00:44:57.159
how was Judah like sheep? Well, they were disobedient, they

716
00:44:57.199 --> 00:44:58.840
were this, they were this, they were this, they were this,

717
00:44:58.880 --> 00:45:00.960
they were this, they were this, they were this. Connect

718
00:45:01.000 --> 00:45:05.760
it there that not necessarily directly to us. Now, at

719
00:45:05.760 --> 00:45:07.920
some point maybe you can make it about us, but

720
00:45:07.960 --> 00:45:10.239
you got to you gotta deal with the original context.

721
00:45:10.280 --> 00:45:12.159
I'm still trying to figure out how we got baptism

722
00:45:12.199 --> 00:45:15.440
into this. So we're gonna least let this play out

723
00:45:15.440 --> 00:45:17.719
and try to at least see is he going to

724
00:45:17.800 --> 00:45:20.519
in any way, shape or form, try to figure out

725
00:45:20.559 --> 00:45:23.239
how this is connected to baptism, because either you're just

726
00:45:23.280 --> 00:45:27.039
gonna say this picture is what baptism does, which you're

727
00:45:27.079 --> 00:45:31.159
gonna then making it sacramental, so wearing a sacramental system,

728
00:45:31.679 --> 00:45:35.440
or I don't know what you do. I don't I

729
00:45:35.679 --> 00:45:38.559
think other than a sacramental system. This really becomes problematic.

730
00:45:38.559 --> 00:45:45.239
But let's see, by referring to God's people here as sheep,

731
00:45:45.360 --> 00:45:50.800
the word of God is emphasizing the neediness of God's people.

732
00:45:52.599 --> 00:45:56.440
And then not only is there the common neediness that's

733
00:45:56.519 --> 00:46:00.039
conveyed there, the neediness that we all share as the

734
00:46:00.079 --> 00:46:04.559
sheep of God, but the Word of God also speaks

735
00:46:04.599 --> 00:46:11.960
of unique needs and unique weaknesses. And it does so

736
00:46:12.199 --> 00:46:18.679
here by referring to the lambs of the flock and

737
00:46:18.920 --> 00:46:26.800
the mothers with young. Shortly after the little lambs are born,

738
00:46:28.039 --> 00:46:32.000
they're bouncing around and running all over the place, filled

739
00:46:32.000 --> 00:46:37.360
with all kinds of youthful energy. And yet those lambs

740
00:46:37.440 --> 00:46:41.559
are very prone to wander and go astray, even more

741
00:46:41.639 --> 00:46:46.559
so than the older sheep. And though those lambs have

742
00:46:47.000 --> 00:46:50.960
a burst of youthful energy and are prancing and jumping

743
00:46:51.000 --> 00:46:55.079
all around, they're very easily tire, especially if the shepherd

744
00:46:55.159 --> 00:47:02.119
is leading them on a journey. Then the passage speaks

745
00:47:02.159 --> 00:47:09.320
of those that are with young, literally those that give suck,

746
00:47:10.719 --> 00:47:15.199
which can refer to the you lambs, the mothers who

747
00:47:15.639 --> 00:47:20.639
are bearing lambs and they've not been born yet, or

748
00:47:20.760 --> 00:47:24.039
those that have given birth to their lambs and are

749
00:47:24.079 --> 00:47:29.719
now giving them suck and caring for them. In any case,

750
00:47:29.760 --> 00:47:35.599
it's referring to the mothers. The mothers needed to be

751
00:47:35.800 --> 00:47:42.039
cared for by the shepherd gently. Other passages of God's

752
00:47:42.079 --> 00:47:48.639
word make that plane. For example, Genesis thirty three, verse thirteen,

753
00:47:48.840 --> 00:47:52.480
which is a record of the history of Jacob's returning

754
00:47:52.519 --> 00:47:55.519
from dwelling with his uncle Laban and his first meeting

755
00:47:55.840 --> 00:48:00.519
with his brother Esau. That says he Jacob said, unto him, Esau,

756
00:48:00.920 --> 00:48:04.119
my Lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the

757
00:48:04.159 --> 00:48:07.320
flocks and herds with young are with me, and if

758
00:48:07.360 --> 00:48:11.599
men should overdrive them one day, all the flock will die.

759
00:48:11.719 --> 00:48:14.559
Jacob is concerned not only about his own little ones,

760
00:48:15.559 --> 00:48:19.079
but about the little lambs and the mothers of his flock,

761
00:48:19.159 --> 00:48:21.960
that they not be overdriven, they needed to be cared

762
00:48:22.000 --> 00:48:27.079
for gently. And then again in Psalm seventy eight, Verses

763
00:48:27.119 --> 00:48:32.079
seventy and seventy one, we read he chose David also

764
00:48:32.239 --> 00:48:36.480
his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds from following

765
00:48:36.599 --> 00:48:42.679
the Ewes great with young, and speaking of David's care

766
00:48:42.760 --> 00:48:44.800
of his flock when he was chosen out of that

767
00:48:44.960 --> 00:48:48.599
to be king, and mentioned specifically he had a special

768
00:48:48.760 --> 00:48:55.440
care for the Ewes that were with young. By speaking

769
00:48:55.480 --> 00:48:58.519
of the little lambs and those that are with young,

770
00:49:00.119 --> 00:49:06.480
God is speaking of particular weaknesses or particular needs and

771
00:49:06.559 --> 00:49:17.440
struggles of certain of the sheep in the fall. This

772
00:49:17.519 --> 00:49:24.599
word of God describes well our own weaknesses and their

773
00:49:24.639 --> 00:49:33.679
own need for comfort. God is leading us on a journey,

774
00:49:34.400 --> 00:49:38.960
on a pilgrimage. That's the nature of our life as Christians.

775
00:49:39.480 --> 00:49:43.519
In this world. We have the hope before us of

776
00:49:43.559 --> 00:49:48.199
the heavenly promised land of glory and perfection in heaven

777
00:49:48.280 --> 00:49:54.599
with God. But presently our position is in Babylon. We

778
00:49:54.639 --> 00:49:58.320
live in the midst of a world that is wholly

779
00:49:58.880 --> 00:50:04.639
pursuing after sin. That's anti Christian. Though we live in

780
00:50:04.679 --> 00:50:07.880
the midst of this world, we don't belong to it.

781
00:50:09.920 --> 00:50:13.199
Now. I do one hundred percent agree with the basic

782
00:50:13.280 --> 00:50:15.960
analogy here because I've said the same thing. If you're

783
00:50:15.960 --> 00:50:18.760
going to apply this the way you apply this is yes,

784
00:50:19.159 --> 00:50:22.320
in a sense, we are in our own captivity. We

785
00:50:22.400 --> 00:50:25.280
still have a sinful nature, we still sin, We are

786
00:50:25.320 --> 00:50:28.800
in a fallen world. We are in Babylon, right, So,

787
00:50:29.440 --> 00:50:32.079
and that sense that is true. Now, what do we

788
00:50:32.159 --> 00:50:35.239
need to understand? What we need to understand who God is? Right?

789
00:50:35.519 --> 00:50:37.400
But we got to be very careful here when we

790
00:50:37.480 --> 00:50:39.920
apply this to us being in Babylon. Now this is

791
00:50:39.920 --> 00:50:42.880
where it gets complicated, right, and this is where the

792
00:50:42.960 --> 00:50:47.039
problems can begin. If you take these specific promises given

793
00:50:47.079 --> 00:50:50.800
to Judah in Babylonian captivity and try to make them

794
00:50:50.840 --> 00:50:55.000
transferable to us, you're stealing the promise from them making

795
00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:57.800
it applicable to us. And I'm telling you, ladies and gentlemen,

796
00:50:58.000 --> 00:51:01.400
those promises given to Israel or for you, they're not

797
00:51:01.880 --> 00:51:04.559
for you. And so you're going to be left going, well,

798
00:51:04.599 --> 00:51:07.599
wait a minute, God promised to feed or together, or

799
00:51:07.639 --> 00:51:11.000
to protect or to provide. Well, why is it not happening?

800
00:51:11.239 --> 00:51:15.719
Because those promises were based off covenants given specifically to Israel.

801
00:51:16.119 --> 00:51:20.760
That's the Now the analogy is, as they were in captivity,

802
00:51:21.000 --> 00:51:25.159
we are in our own Babylonian captivity. Okay, great, Now

803
00:51:25.440 --> 00:51:28.280
what lessons can we learn? Well, we have to learn

804
00:51:28.320 --> 00:51:31.639
to trust God and see God at work even in

805
00:51:31.679 --> 00:51:34.800
the ordinary, because we've been talking about that, right, because

806
00:51:34.840 --> 00:51:37.199
here God is going to work in this particular case

807
00:51:37.320 --> 00:51:40.599
very much in ordinary means, not supernatural means, because he's

808
00:51:40.639 --> 00:51:44.440
going to deliver them through the hands of Cyrus. Okay,

809
00:51:44.559 --> 00:51:47.320
so we could talk about that, but you've got to

810
00:51:47.360 --> 00:51:52.760
be very careful what you do here, God's major for us.

811
00:51:53.119 --> 00:51:56.639
Most of the things He's doing for us is spiritual

812
00:51:56.679 --> 00:51:59.039
because when it comes to our now you we can

813
00:51:59.079 --> 00:52:02.119
get into a whole DISCUSSI about what God provides doesn't provide,

814
00:52:02.199 --> 00:52:05.559
When does he protect? When does he not protect? Because

815
00:52:05.559 --> 00:52:08.440
that leads to all kinds of theological issues. So with

816
00:52:08.559 --> 00:52:13.000
the over our all analogy, I agree. Now, what's what is?

817
00:52:13.360 --> 00:52:15.159
How is he going to take this promise? First of all,

818
00:52:15.199 --> 00:52:17.280
I still don't know how it's connected to baptism. He's

819
00:52:17.320 --> 00:52:19.760
not done anything to see how this is even connected

820
00:52:19.760 --> 00:52:23.039
to baptism. He's just mentioned it. I still want to know,

821
00:52:23.119 --> 00:52:25.320
because you're either going with a sacramental view or I

822
00:52:25.320 --> 00:52:28.360
don't know what you're going to do. But the basic

823
00:52:28.400 --> 00:52:32.280
analogy I'm in agreement with. Now, how do we under

824
00:52:32.440 --> 00:52:35.079
What does Isaiah forty through fifty five have to say

825
00:52:35.119 --> 00:52:39.559
to us about our quote unquote Babylona captivity. You cannot

826
00:52:39.639 --> 00:52:43.440
take the promises given to Israel in their captivity and

827
00:52:43.559 --> 00:52:46.519
apply them to us. That's the issue. That's where the

828
00:52:46.559 --> 00:52:49.400
problem can begin. Let's see if that if he's going

829
00:52:49.400 --> 00:52:51.400
to avoid that problem, or if that's what we're going

830
00:52:51.480 --> 00:52:51.880
to walk.

831
00:52:51.760 --> 00:52:58.239
Into this world is not our home. This is not

832
00:52:58.440 --> 00:53:02.239
our abiding place forever. This is not where we have

833
00:53:02.360 --> 00:53:08.000
our hope set. We're pilgrims. We're on a journey. God

834
00:53:08.119 --> 00:53:12.840
is leading us through this life, through this world, on

835
00:53:13.800 --> 00:53:19.360
to glory with him. But though that hope of heaven

836
00:53:19.440 --> 00:53:22.920
is certain, and though there's comfort and joy for the

837
00:53:23.039 --> 00:53:28.880
Christian and knowing that that's what awaits him, there is

838
00:53:29.039 --> 00:53:36.480
yet the difficulty of the way the hardships that God

839
00:53:36.559 --> 00:53:40.079
sends upon us in this light.

840
00:53:44.840 --> 00:53:48.000
Now, when you say God sends the hardships upon us

841
00:53:48.079 --> 00:53:55.000
in this life, now that raises questions, Right, that raises

842
00:53:55.079 --> 00:53:57.760
serious questions because again, if I go back to the

843
00:53:57.800 --> 00:54:01.639
news article about the young person who is sexually assaulted

844
00:54:01.679 --> 00:54:07.360
and molested, and eighty counts the person was charged with like,

845
00:54:07.559 --> 00:54:13.199
so did God send that upon that child? What hardships?

846
00:54:13.679 --> 00:54:16.320
Do we draw a distinction between the hardships God sends

847
00:54:16.400 --> 00:54:18.320
upon us? Or is are we going in a much

848
00:54:18.360 --> 00:54:21.039
more like if we go again, we get into a

849
00:54:21.119 --> 00:54:24.840
discussion about God's sovereignty here, Right, we know God would

850
00:54:24.920 --> 00:54:27.280
allow it. God allows it. There's no way to get

851
00:54:27.280 --> 00:54:29.440
around it. Because God is all knowing and all powerful.

852
00:54:29.679 --> 00:54:33.280
So clearly whatever suffering comes into your life, he allows it.

853
00:54:33.360 --> 00:54:37.719
Whether it's murder. I mean, we can go to some

854
00:54:37.880 --> 00:54:40.800
heinous crimes. Do we need to get into sexual assault,

855
00:54:41.559 --> 00:54:44.199
child being molested? All of those types of things. We

856
00:54:44.280 --> 00:54:46.519
know he at least allows it. There's no way to

857
00:54:46.519 --> 00:54:48.880
get around that. He knew before the foundations of the

858
00:54:48.880 --> 00:54:50.559
world that it was going to happen to this person

859
00:54:50.599 --> 00:54:53.440
and this person and this person being abused, whatever the

860
00:54:53.440 --> 00:54:57.079
case may be, So he allowed it. Did God send it?

861
00:55:00.079 --> 00:55:00.199
Now?

862
00:55:00.199 --> 00:55:02.239
Again, what we're supposed to be doing was weary in

863
00:55:02.239 --> 00:55:04.840
Isaiah chapter forty, verse eleven. We're supposed to be talking

864
00:55:04.880 --> 00:55:08.239
about them and their situation. But you notice what is

865
00:55:08.239 --> 00:55:10.800
happening now. We're getting in to these discussions where we're

866
00:55:10.800 --> 00:55:13.920
ignoring the original people and it becomes about us, because

867
00:55:14.000 --> 00:55:17.760
that's what happens with all of these sermons. So what

868
00:55:17.800 --> 00:55:21.239
do you mean God sends us? Okay, God sends the problem?

869
00:55:21.280 --> 00:55:26.079
All right? How do you process that right? When horrible

870
00:55:26.119 --> 00:55:30.960
things happen? I mean, that's an issue Christians have been

871
00:55:30.960 --> 00:55:33.760
struggling with for two thousand years. Christians love their little

872
00:55:33.760 --> 00:55:37.119
bumper sticker answers, They love their little cliches. Supposedly it

873
00:55:37.159 --> 00:55:39.119
makes them feel better. I don't know how it makes

874
00:55:39.119 --> 00:55:40.960
them feel better. It should trouble them just as much

875
00:55:41.000 --> 00:55:43.920
as it troubled anybody else on the Christian Post. Not

876
00:55:43.960 --> 00:55:47.199
only whereas there's an article about that person from the

877
00:55:47.199 --> 00:55:50.559
Creation Museum and what happened there again like part of

878
00:55:50.599 --> 00:55:53.199
their praise ban or whatever it is, and the child

879
00:55:53.280 --> 00:55:56.760
eighty counts. Right underneath that article was another article about

880
00:55:56.760 --> 00:56:00.880
a Christian school where there's an investigation something happen again

881
00:56:00.920 --> 00:56:04.760
about children being some things happening to children there of

882
00:56:04.760 --> 00:56:08.360
a sexual nature. I mean, like you can just look

883
00:56:08.400 --> 00:56:12.760
all day long, what how do you understand these things? Well,

884
00:56:12.800 --> 00:56:14.639
you said, well, we're in a fallen world. Okay, great,

885
00:56:14.639 --> 00:56:17.079
we're in a fallen world. But if God is the

886
00:56:17.119 --> 00:56:20.440
one directing and sending it, these raises serious questions. I'm

887
00:56:20.480 --> 00:56:23.159
all for having those questions. It's just hard to try

888
00:56:23.199 --> 00:56:27.559
to go and address those issues. Well, we're trying to

889
00:56:27.559 --> 00:56:30.320
figure out Isaiah forty verse eleven, and I still want

890
00:56:30.360 --> 00:56:31.599
to know what does any of this have to do

891
00:56:31.679 --> 00:56:35.159
with baptism? So let's see if we can figure this out.

892
00:56:39.920 --> 00:56:45.039
That way is difficult because we're constantly beset by our enemies.

893
00:56:46.679 --> 00:56:49.239
God's people as they are in this world at any

894
00:56:49.239 --> 00:56:53.280
one time, are just a small remnant in comparison to

895
00:56:54.480 --> 00:57:00.480
the wicked and unbelieving world amongst whom we live goes

896
00:57:00.559 --> 00:57:05.199
about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

897
00:57:05.320 --> 00:57:09.159
There is the threat of false teachers who are wolves,

898
00:57:10.159 --> 00:57:13.440
who seek to lead the sheep astray, to scatter them,

899
00:57:14.840 --> 00:57:21.760
to harm them, to destroy them. And then there's the

900
00:57:21.800 --> 00:57:28.679
difficulty that comes as God sends upon us the hardships

901
00:57:28.679 --> 00:57:35.000
and the sorrows and the trials of earthly life. And

902
00:57:35.079 --> 00:57:38.159
though God sends those trials in different ways and in

903
00:57:38.239 --> 00:57:42.360
varying degrees to his children and a certain way in common,

904
00:57:42.400 --> 00:57:46.079
we all share that there are all struggles that we

905
00:57:46.280 --> 00:57:53.679
all face to varying degrees in our lives. There's the

906
00:57:53.679 --> 00:58:00.039
struggle at times with sickness, the necessity of surgery, the

907
00:58:00.800 --> 00:58:05.039
aches and the pains of old age and the breakdown

908
00:58:05.119 --> 00:58:14.119
of the body. There's loss, death, sorrow, grief, loneliness. There's

909
00:58:14.159 --> 00:58:19.000
discouragement and disappointment as we had our own plans and

910
00:58:19.039 --> 00:58:22.000
our own hopes and desires, but God's way of leading

911
00:58:22.159 --> 00:58:28.119
us is in a different way. There's strife and division,

912
00:58:28.360 --> 00:58:34.840
and homes and families, there's being hurt and sinned against

913
00:58:34.960 --> 00:58:41.239
by others. So many are the afflictions that God sends

914
00:58:41.320 --> 00:58:45.440
upon his people. In this light, the way is difficult.

915
00:58:45.599 --> 00:58:50.760
The end and the goal is certain, but the way

916
00:58:50.800 --> 00:58:54.760
in which God leads is often a hard, difficult way.

917
00:58:58.400 --> 00:59:02.800
Now, is anybody starting to have some questions? Right? Is

918
00:59:02.800 --> 00:59:07.440
anybody raising their hand? So the text is he will

919
00:59:07.519 --> 00:59:10.960
feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the

920
00:59:11.039 --> 00:59:15.320
lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom,

921
00:59:15.599 --> 00:59:18.920
and shall gently lead those that are with the young.

922
00:59:19.559 --> 00:59:22.880
But yet the very God who's supposed to be gathering

923
00:59:22.960 --> 00:59:25.159
us and holding us close to his bosom, I guess

924
00:59:25.199 --> 00:59:28.480
at some points he sets us down and like, boom,

925
00:59:28.519 --> 00:59:31.239
you get this, You get this disease, Boom, you get

926
00:59:31.280 --> 00:59:34.360
this suffering boom because God sends it, God brings it

927
00:59:34.400 --> 00:59:38.280
into your life. So boom, Oh, your child's gonna be murdered. Boom. Oh,

928
00:59:38.400 --> 00:59:40.760
your child's gonna be killed by a drug driver. Boom,

929
00:59:40.840 --> 00:59:43.679
your child's gonna get molested by a church leader. Boom,

930
00:59:43.880 --> 00:59:46.599
this is going to happen. You're gonna lose your job, Boom,

931
00:59:46.679 --> 00:59:49.719
this is going to happen. You're gonna be paralyzed. Boom,

932
00:59:49.760 --> 00:59:51.840
this is gonna happen. This is gonna happen, This is

933
00:59:51.880 --> 00:59:54.760
gonna happen, This is gonna happen, This is gonna happen. Wait,

934
00:59:54.880 --> 00:59:57.360
I thought he is the one carrying me and guiding

935
00:59:57.400 --> 01:00:00.280
me and holding me to his bosom. So now the

936
01:00:00.320 --> 01:00:04.159
problem here? Well, first, this text is specifically about them

937
01:00:04.280 --> 01:00:07.639
coming out of Babylonian captivity. That's what this is referencing to.

938
01:00:07.920 --> 01:00:10.880
But of course we've already left them so far behind.

939
01:00:11.039 --> 01:00:13.199
But don't you if you're reading this text, you're like,

940
01:00:13.280 --> 01:00:15.800
that's the text of the sermon. But I'm being told

941
01:00:15.800 --> 01:00:18.880
now at least twice, maybe three times, God brings this,

942
01:00:19.159 --> 01:00:22.679
God directs this. God brings this into your life, varying degrees,

943
01:00:22.960 --> 01:00:25.639
varying levels of severity, but he brings it into your life.

944
01:00:25.639 --> 01:00:27.599
So we see the one carrying me and protecting me,

945
01:00:27.840 --> 01:00:30.760
or see the one bringing all of these horrible things

946
01:00:30.840 --> 01:00:33.239
into my life, because you can, you can talk about

947
01:00:33.280 --> 01:00:36.880
just the normal aches and pains of old age, but

948
01:00:36.960 --> 01:00:39.079
we know that we suffer far more than just the

949
01:00:39.119 --> 01:00:42.599
normal aches and pains of old age. People suffer some

950
01:00:42.760 --> 01:00:48.800
very messed up things. So as do I look to

951
01:00:48.840 --> 01:00:51.639
God as the one comforting me and protecting me, or

952
01:00:51.679 --> 01:00:53.800
do I look to the God as the one going, Hey,

953
01:00:54.000 --> 01:00:55.679
you're gonna get a little bit of this, How you're

954
01:00:55.679 --> 01:00:57.320
gonna get a little bit of this, How you're gonna

955
01:00:57.320 --> 01:00:58.679
get a lot more for this, and of course that

956
01:00:58.760 --> 01:01:01.800
we'll convince ourselves doing that all for our good. I

957
01:01:01.840 --> 01:01:03.480
still don't know why. You know, I could go through

958
01:01:03.519 --> 01:01:04.960
a lot of things in my life and like, I

959
01:01:04.960 --> 01:01:07.559
don't know what good came from that. Yeah, I don't

960
01:01:07.559 --> 01:01:09.519
know what good came from being beaten. I don't know

961
01:01:09.519 --> 01:01:14.800
what good came I could go through. I mean, like, huh, yeah,

962
01:01:15.000 --> 01:01:17.320
lots of questions there, But these are the kinds of

963
01:01:17.400 --> 01:01:19.639
questions that you have to have in church. See, we

964
01:01:19.679 --> 01:01:22.400
don't have these kinds of questions because it makes everyone uncomfortable.

965
01:01:22.480 --> 01:01:26.239
Christians will get very defensive and get mad and get upset.

966
01:01:26.440 --> 01:01:28.880
I understand that because nobody likes it. But I mean,

967
01:01:28.920 --> 01:01:31.519
this is this is a perfect time to have this question.

968
01:01:31.679 --> 01:01:35.360
We're in a text about God doing comforting, but it's

969
01:01:35.400 --> 01:01:37.719
turning into all the things God will allow to bring

970
01:01:37.719 --> 01:01:40.480
into your life. Well, first of all, wait, what has

971
01:01:40.559 --> 01:01:42.360
this got to do with baptism? And wait, a minute.

972
01:01:42.360 --> 01:01:44.360
What does this got to do with Isaiah forty verse eleven.

973
01:01:44.800 --> 01:01:48.199
This is what happens to all of these sermons is

974
01:01:48.280 --> 01:01:51.519
inevitably the train leaves the track somehow.

975
01:01:55.159 --> 01:01:57.760
Not only is it the case that God's way for

976
01:01:57.880 --> 01:02:01.280
us is difficult, we need comfort because of who we

977
01:02:01.440 --> 01:02:07.239
are as needy sheep, The text and the context here

978
01:02:08.519 --> 01:02:11.800
teach us that. For example, in verses six and seven,

979
01:02:12.360 --> 01:02:14.920
the voice said, cry, and he said, what shall I cry?

980
01:02:15.000 --> 01:02:18.159
All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is

981
01:02:18.199 --> 01:02:21.199
as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the

982
01:02:21.239 --> 01:02:25.159
flower fadeth because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it.

983
01:02:25.519 --> 01:02:27.760
Surely the people is grass.

984
01:02:27.840 --> 01:02:35.159
That's us. Wait in the context, is that us? Or

985
01:02:35.280 --> 01:02:37.239
is that trying to remind the people who are in

986
01:02:37.280 --> 01:02:41.199
Babylonian captivity that all the people around you that God

987
01:02:41.320 --> 01:02:43.480
is greater than all the people and that they are

988
01:02:43.480 --> 01:02:45.480
all going to fade and they're all going to just

989
01:02:45.559 --> 01:02:49.599
be as the spirit. Uh, where's this say, because the

990
01:02:49.599 --> 01:02:51.880
spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it, Surely the people

991
01:02:51.920 --> 01:02:55.639
is grass. Is this God telling them, hey, all of

992
01:02:55.719 --> 01:02:58.199
you are just grass and you're weak? Or is this

993
01:02:58.320 --> 01:03:01.960
trying to give them comfort? That is mighty nation that

994
01:03:02.039 --> 01:03:05.599
has them in captivity are just as grasps. How should

995
01:03:05.639 --> 01:03:09.639
we interpret that in its context? See, he's turning the

996
01:03:09.760 --> 01:03:12.719
entire text now making it about us. This is where

997
01:03:12.760 --> 01:03:23.760
things start falling apart. What is that actually about? Now?

998
01:03:23.760 --> 01:03:26.400
We're now we've reached over the hour mark and went

999
01:03:26.440 --> 01:03:29.239
out just now starting to get into some of these issues.

1000
01:03:29.960 --> 01:03:33.599
So is God the comforter? Or is God the one

1001
01:03:33.639 --> 01:03:35.800
who brings in all the pain and suffering and makes

1002
01:03:35.800 --> 01:03:38.039
the way of our life hard? Is he the one

1003
01:03:38.079 --> 01:03:40.440
who makes it hard? So do we look to comfort

1004
01:03:40.480 --> 01:03:42.559
from the God making the way hard? Do I seek

1005
01:03:42.559 --> 01:03:45.719
comfort from the very God who made the way hard? Hey, God,

1006
01:03:45.719 --> 01:03:47.679
I'm coming to you for comfort. But you're the one

1007
01:03:47.679 --> 01:03:49.840
who allowed this to happen, and you brought this in.

1008
01:03:50.079 --> 01:03:53.559
He either allowed it or he directly brought it. But

1009
01:03:53.679 --> 01:03:55.840
I now come to the very God who allowed it

1010
01:03:56.480 --> 01:03:58.800
or who brought the pain and suffering, and I go

1011
01:03:58.880 --> 01:04:01.159
to him for comfort. Does not anyone find that a

1012
01:04:01.199 --> 01:04:07.000
little bit confusing? And then in Isaiah forty six to eight,

1013
01:04:07.320 --> 01:04:09.760
is that us or is that God speaking to them?

1014
01:04:10.039 --> 01:04:10.159
Like?

1015
01:04:10.239 --> 01:04:12.719
What is going on to how should we understand Isaiah

1016
01:04:12.719 --> 01:04:15.760
forty six to wait in its actual context. Remember this

1017
01:04:15.840 --> 01:04:21.079
is a section of comfort. This is he telling them, hey,

1018
01:04:21.159 --> 01:04:23.679
be comforted by the fact that you're just like grass

1019
01:04:23.679 --> 01:04:26.000
and you're just going to disappear. Find comfort in that.

1020
01:04:26.360 --> 01:04:29.239
Or is this supposed to be comfort for them in

1021
01:04:29.280 --> 01:04:32.519
a different way, because remember this all is about comfort, right,

1022
01:04:33.599 --> 01:04:36.199
Oh so so many Let's see where this goes. And again,

1023
01:04:36.239 --> 01:04:37.800
what is this they have to do with baptism?

1024
01:04:39.559 --> 01:04:44.280
We are grass, grow up in a moment, and our

1025
01:04:44.320 --> 01:04:48.199
life is quickly over. And then at the end of

1026
01:04:48.239 --> 01:04:52.440
the chapter verses twenty nine and thirty, he giveth power

1027
01:04:52.519 --> 01:04:55.440
to the feint, and to them that have no might,

1028
01:04:55.559 --> 01:04:59.239
He increase its strength. Even the youths shall faint and

1029
01:04:59.360 --> 01:05:06.679
be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. Think

1030
01:05:06.760 --> 01:05:12.079
of what we would consider to be the epitome of

1031
01:05:12.199 --> 01:05:18.840
earthly strength. We'd say, young men, they're in the prime

1032
01:05:18.880 --> 01:05:21.480
of their life. They're filled with all kinds of strength,

1033
01:05:21.519 --> 01:05:24.599
and they can do all kinds of things, work all day,

1034
01:05:24.639 --> 01:05:27.519
and play sports all night, and just go on and

1035
01:05:27.559 --> 01:05:33.960
on with all of that youthful energy and strength. Even

1036
01:05:34.000 --> 01:05:36.639
the youths shall fate and be weary, and the young

1037
01:05:36.679 --> 01:05:39.760
men shall utterly fall. Even what we would think the

1038
01:05:39.880 --> 01:05:43.079
strongest of us are.

1039
01:05:42.920 --> 01:05:49.239
Weak, isn't Isaiah forty twenty nine, And that entire section

1040
01:05:49.440 --> 01:05:56.000
isn't it about those in captivity?

1041
01:05:56.880 --> 01:06:08.760
Okay, we're sheep, and sheep are weak and helpless and dependent.

1042
01:06:11.639 --> 01:06:16.519
Text teaches that as well when it refers to the

1043
01:06:16.639 --> 01:06:22.440
lambs and the mothers with young. That's not to say

1044
01:06:22.480 --> 01:06:25.840
that it's only the lambs and the mothers who are

1045
01:06:25.840 --> 01:06:29.400
weak and in need of comfort. This is only giving

1046
01:06:29.440 --> 01:06:34.559
an example. The weakness that's true of all of us

1047
01:06:34.679 --> 01:06:41.400
is exemplified in the little lambs. They're small, they're helpless.

1048
01:06:41.719 --> 01:06:47.199
They're so dependent upon father and especially mother to provide

1049
01:06:47.239 --> 01:06:52.559
for them, to protect them, to feed them on their own.

1050
01:06:52.760 --> 01:07:04.760
They're helpless. And there are the needs of mothers with young. Now,

1051
01:07:04.760 --> 01:07:07.559
in a certain sense, we stand in awe the strength

1052
01:07:07.639 --> 01:07:12.400
that God gives to a mother and she bears a

1053
01:07:12.519 --> 01:07:18.199
child and cares for the child. But there's the struggles

1054
01:07:18.239 --> 01:07:21.400
that she faces as well. She might be sick as

1055
01:07:21.440 --> 01:07:25.679
she bears the child, as she comes to the end

1056
01:07:25.719 --> 01:07:30.639
of her pregnancy, she's exhausted. She can hardly stay up

1057
01:07:30.639 --> 01:07:33.119
on her feet and continue the work that God has

1058
01:07:33.159 --> 01:07:35.920
given her to do. And then once the child is born,

1059
01:07:37.039 --> 01:07:40.880
all of the responsibilities of the care of home and family,

1060
01:07:40.960 --> 01:07:44.480
and plus the care of the little child, and perhaps

1061
01:07:44.559 --> 01:07:47.639
the child's up all night and she hardly sleeps at all.

1062
01:07:47.760 --> 01:07:51.800
And then she continues to go on and on so

1063
01:07:51.840 --> 01:07:53.840
that she might come to the point of throwing her

1064
01:07:53.840 --> 01:07:58.000
hands up and saying, I can't go on. I'm exhausted.

1065
01:08:03.280 --> 01:08:14.519
We are weak on account of who we are physically, Okay,

1066
01:08:14.559 --> 01:08:15.079
So for.

1067
01:08:17.560 --> 01:08:19.920
I don't know what's happening. I don't know what's happening. Okay,

1068
01:08:19.920 --> 01:08:21.199
I don't know what any of this has to do

1069
01:08:21.199 --> 01:08:24.880
with the original people this was written to. Secondly, is

1070
01:08:24.920 --> 01:08:28.079
this leading me to the conclusion that baptism solves all

1071
01:08:28.119 --> 01:08:31.760
of these problems? Is that where this is leading me to, Hey,

1072
01:08:32.039 --> 01:08:34.000
baptism is the thing that because he said this is

1073
01:08:34.039 --> 01:08:38.600
all connected to baptism, is baptism. I know we're already

1074
01:08:38.640 --> 01:08:40.239
over an hour, but I gotta wait to see if

1075
01:08:40.239 --> 01:08:43.079
he's going to where does baptism come into play here?

1076
01:08:45.680 --> 01:08:50.760
Creatures of the dust or grass made out of the dust,

1077
01:08:50.840 --> 01:09:00.640
soon returning to the dust, helpless dependent. We have our

1078
01:09:00.720 --> 01:09:07.600
physical weaknesses, our emotional weaknesses and struggles, our mental weaknesses

1079
01:09:07.640 --> 01:09:13.319
and struggles and then there's our weakness on account of

1080
01:09:14.520 --> 01:09:20.279
our sins and our sinful natures. Yes, we belong to

1081
01:09:20.439 --> 01:09:24.680
Christ and are in him. We've been regenerated by the spirit.

1082
01:09:24.760 --> 01:09:27.840
We are are new creatures in Him. And yet we

1083
01:09:27.960 --> 01:09:31.960
have that old man of sin that still cleaves to us.

1084
01:09:34.159 --> 01:09:38.560
Wait, are we new or not new? Now? If he

1085
01:09:38.640 --> 01:09:42.000
means new positionally, but we're not new practically, then man,

1086
01:09:42.319 --> 01:09:46.119
and we're in complete agreement. But he didn't really articulate that. There, right,

1087
01:09:46.439 --> 01:09:48.359
we're new, but we still have the old. Well, then

1088
01:09:48.399 --> 01:09:53.000
that's not new. So we're new positionally, we're not new practically.

1089
01:09:53.239 --> 01:09:58.840
So positionally we're perfect, holy and righteous. But our positionally

1090
01:09:58.920 --> 01:10:02.880
we're holy right now, just perfect, and we're new. Practically

1091
01:10:03.199 --> 01:10:07.840
we are sinful, weak, ungodly, and therefore we're going to

1092
01:10:07.920 --> 01:10:10.039
sinfall and we cannot keep the law. And if that's

1093
01:10:10.039 --> 01:10:12.119
the direction he's going, great. I still know why any

1094
01:10:12.159 --> 01:10:13.880
of this has to do with baptism. I don't know

1095
01:10:13.880 --> 01:10:15.800
what any of this has to do with Isaiah forty

1096
01:10:16.279 --> 01:10:19.039
verses nine through eleven and its original context, which is

1097
01:10:19.079 --> 01:10:21.159
literally these are supposed to be a message speaking to

1098
01:10:21.159 --> 01:10:22.159
the cities of Judah.

1099
01:10:22.439 --> 01:10:28.159
But okay, that corrupts and taints everything that we do.

1100
01:10:28.239 --> 01:10:32.119
We have in this life only ever a small beginning

1101
01:10:32.520 --> 01:10:37.119
of the new obedience. We struggle with sin and our

1102
01:10:37.159 --> 01:10:42.760
own besetting sins. We so easily give in to temptation

1103
01:10:43.000 --> 01:10:50.760
and the same temptations again and again. And those are

1104
01:10:50.800 --> 01:10:57.520
the weaknesses that we share in common. Then there are

1105
01:10:57.600 --> 01:11:04.760
all of the unique weaknesses, unique struggles and difficulties that

1106
01:11:04.840 --> 01:11:10.439
each one of us has. We're daid by God.

1107
01:11:13.640 --> 01:11:19.439
Oh, our specific weaknesses are ordained by God. So if

1108
01:11:19.479 --> 01:11:23.079
someone has a spiritual weakness that's ordained by God and

1109
01:11:23.119 --> 01:11:28.840
they fall into sin, this raises all kinds of other questions. Okay,

1110
01:11:29.399 --> 01:11:31.840
all right, I just want to know what this has

1111
01:11:31.880 --> 01:11:33.720
to do with First of all, with the original recipients

1112
01:11:33.720 --> 01:11:36.000
who the message specifically is supposed to be giving to.

1113
01:11:36.199 --> 01:11:38.359
And second, I still try to figure out what has

1114
01:11:38.359 --> 01:11:39.439
this got to do with baptism.

1115
01:11:41.840 --> 01:11:54.239
We are needy sheep in our need. We have a

1116
01:11:54.279 --> 01:12:01.039
great shepherd. We have a great shepherd for our great need,

1117
01:12:01.840 --> 01:12:07.840
a shepherd who tenderly cares for us and provides for us.

1118
01:12:09.880 --> 01:12:11.640
Okay, now wait a minute. So we have a God

1119
01:12:11.960 --> 01:12:15.560
who brings in the hardship, the God who brings the

1120
01:12:15.600 --> 01:12:19.720
pain and tragedy into our life, who allows it and

1121
01:12:20.159 --> 01:12:25.159
has even ordained our weakness. But we have a God

1122
01:12:25.239 --> 01:12:28.920
who is our shepherd, who comforts and provides for us.

1123
01:12:29.760 --> 01:12:32.439
Is the provision the pain and suffering he brings into

1124
01:12:32.439 --> 01:12:35.640
my life? Is the provision the weakness he ordained? Or

1125
01:12:35.720 --> 01:12:40.720
is the provision to stop that? I don't now, I

1126
01:12:40.840 --> 01:12:41.520
don't know.

1127
01:12:45.520 --> 01:12:52.479
Versy. Lovin emphasizes that with the word order in the original.

1128
01:12:53.239 --> 01:12:57.960
In the original, it says, as a shepherd, he shepherds

1129
01:12:58.439 --> 01:13:10.680
his flock. We are the flock of our shepherd, our God,

1130
01:13:11.319 --> 01:13:14.039
and the fact that we're his flock means that we

1131
01:13:14.239 --> 01:13:19.239
belong to him. There's a relationship that's established between him

1132
01:13:19.720 --> 01:13:23.960
and us, and what's conveyed there is the truth of

1133
01:13:24.039 --> 01:13:31.840
God's covenant. He's established his covenant with us. He's drawn

1134
01:13:31.960 --> 01:13:36.319
us to himself. He's brought us into fellowship and the

1135
01:13:36.359 --> 01:13:42.840
warmth of his love and intimate communion with him. As

1136
01:13:43.000 --> 01:13:46.720
was quoted in the baptism form out of Genesis seventeen,

1137
01:13:46.840 --> 01:13:50.880
verse seven, He's our God, we are his people. That's

1138
01:13:50.920 --> 01:13:55.319
the that's the essence of God's covenant with us.

1139
01:13:57.000 --> 01:14:00.159
I guess the original recipients Judah and Israel just have

1140
01:14:00.199 --> 01:14:02.960
been They have gotten the boot. They have been kicked

1141
01:14:03.000 --> 01:14:07.680
out of this text completely. They were briefly mentioned, and

1142
01:14:07.760 --> 01:14:12.119
I do appreciate at least historical context was given. But

1143
01:14:12.239 --> 01:14:15.720
you notice this text, they've been completely removed. And now

1144
01:14:15.760 --> 01:14:17.760
we're we're walking around. Go it's Us Us Us and

1145
01:14:17.800 --> 01:14:20.600
the Covenant. The Covenant was made with them. Even the

1146
01:14:20.640 --> 01:14:22.399
new Covenant is made with the House of Israel and

1147
01:14:22.399 --> 01:14:26.439
the House of Judah. Literally, the text states that we

1148
01:14:26.520 --> 01:14:27.720
are in grafted.

1149
01:14:27.359 --> 01:14:38.800
In that covenant. Life is ground it in the work

1150
01:14:38.840 --> 01:14:42.479
of Jesus Christ. God has shown himself to be our

1151
01:14:43.000 --> 01:14:48.760
good shepherd, in the good Shepherd Jesus Christ. Jesus says

1152
01:14:48.840 --> 01:14:52.239
in John ten, verse eleven, I am the good Shepherd,

1153
01:14:52.880 --> 01:14:55.680
The good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep, and

1154
01:14:55.800 --> 01:14:59.039
verse fourteen again, I am the good Shepherd, and know

1155
01:14:59.239 --> 01:15:06.479
my sheep, and have known of mine. The fact that

1156
01:15:06.520 --> 01:15:14.199
we belong to him, that we're in Jesus Christ, means

1157
01:15:14.239 --> 01:15:20.079
that we are the objects of his tender compassion and

1158
01:15:20.159 --> 01:15:22.199
his unfailing care.

1159
01:15:24.720 --> 01:15:27.920
Again, this is where it's all sentimental. But we're not

1160
01:15:27.960 --> 01:15:31.439
getting any into anything practical. If God is the one

1161
01:15:31.479 --> 01:15:34.760
who brings in the pain, brings in the suffering, either

1162
01:15:34.800 --> 01:15:37.800
because he allows it or decrees it or ordains it

1163
01:15:38.159 --> 01:15:42.520
and ordains even my specific weaknesses. If he's the one

1164
01:15:42.560 --> 01:15:45.439
bringing that all in, Yet he's the one who supposedly

1165
01:15:45.479 --> 01:15:48.560
offer offering the care and the protection. Well, where's the

1166
01:15:48.600 --> 01:15:50.960
care in the protection? If he's the one bringing in

1167
01:15:51.000 --> 01:15:54.399
the pain, the suffering and the weakness, is he going

1168
01:15:54.439 --> 01:15:57.079
to protect me from the pain, suffering, and the weakness

1169
01:15:57.079 --> 01:16:01.119
that he brought into my life? Bring And then he's like, hey,

1170
01:16:01.239 --> 01:16:03.920
it's like slap you, Oh come here, I'm so sorry.

1171
01:16:04.279 --> 01:16:06.760
Slap you. Oh come here, I'm so sorry. Slap you.

1172
01:16:06.800 --> 01:16:09.159
Oh come here, I'm so sorry. Is that the way

1173
01:16:09.520 --> 01:16:13.000
that we understand this? Like, see, when you bring up

1174
01:16:13.039 --> 01:16:16.760
these conflicting concepts, I know, in church, you're not supposed

1175
01:16:16.760 --> 01:16:18.840
to go, wait a minute, this is confusing. I know

1176
01:16:18.920 --> 01:16:21.239
you're not supposed to do that in church, right, We're

1177
01:16:21.239 --> 01:16:24.239
just supposed to say, amen, oh this is beautiful, this

1178
01:16:24.319 --> 01:16:27.119
is comforting. But someone thinking is going to go like,

1179
01:16:27.119 --> 01:16:29.680
wait a minute, how does this work? So he brings

1180
01:16:29.680 --> 01:16:32.039
in the pain, he brings in the suffering, he brings

1181
01:16:32.079 --> 01:16:35.680
in the weakness, But yet he gathers me, and he

1182
01:16:35.760 --> 01:16:40.399
protects me, and he provides and he wha wait, wait, wait,

1183
01:16:40.600 --> 01:16:45.279
how does this work? And not only that, you still

1184
01:16:45.319 --> 01:16:48.000
are taking a passage that's not even about us and

1185
01:16:48.039 --> 01:16:50.760
making it about us, which is what leads to a

1186
01:16:50.760 --> 01:16:51.880
lot of these problems.

1187
01:16:55.239 --> 01:16:59.159
Having given his only begotten son to the death of

1188
01:16:59.199 --> 01:17:04.239
the cross in order to redeem us, our Shepherd will

1189
01:17:04.319 --> 01:17:08.399
certainly provide us then everything else that we stand in

1190
01:17:08.479 --> 01:17:11.439
need of. If He's given Christ to the cross to

1191
01:17:11.560 --> 01:17:15.880
redeem us and to meet our greatest need, will he

1192
01:17:15.960 --> 01:17:19.319
not then provide for us what we stand in need

1193
01:17:19.359 --> 01:17:24.319
of in this life? Is there anything then that can

1194
01:17:24.439 --> 01:17:28.640
separate us from His love in Christ? And the answer is,

1195
01:17:28.680 --> 01:17:35.359
of course not. For Christ's sake, we know and are

1196
01:17:35.439 --> 01:17:40.279
assured of the faithfulness and the care and the love

1197
01:17:40.520 --> 01:17:44.720
of our God and Shepherd for us.

1198
01:17:46.680 --> 01:17:50.520
Okay, God provides, God cares, God protects, He takes care

1199
01:17:50.520 --> 01:17:54.520
of us. That's the sentimental idea. But I'm gonna go

1200
01:17:54.640 --> 01:17:57.960
back to this because and I keep mentioning it, mentioning

1201
01:17:58.000 --> 01:18:01.319
it because I was going to talk about this yesterday.

1202
01:18:01.520 --> 01:18:05.079
But here's the headline, all right, Worship Leader, former arc

1203
01:18:05.199 --> 01:18:09.840
and counter Creation museum band member charged with sodomy. Popular

1204
01:18:09.920 --> 01:18:14.600
Christian apologetics organization Answers in Genesis has confirmed that this individual,

1205
01:18:14.680 --> 01:18:17.359
a member of True Song, the residential musical act of

1206
01:18:17.359 --> 01:18:20.439
the Arc Encounter and Creation Museum in northern Kentucky, is

1207
01:18:20.479 --> 01:18:22.880
no longer connected to the band, as he was charged

1208
01:18:22.920 --> 01:18:27.800
with eighty counts of sexual abuse and sodomy of a

1209
01:18:27.920 --> 01:18:31.600
teenager who was a member of a church where he

1210
01:18:31.720 --> 01:18:34.720
served as worship leader. So he was a worship leader,

1211
01:18:35.000 --> 01:18:38.520
and eighty accounts of sexual abuse and sodomy against a

1212
01:18:38.560 --> 01:18:42.319
teenager who was a member of that church. Where was

1213
01:18:42.399 --> 01:18:45.600
God protecting? Where was he comforting? Where was he looking

1214
01:18:45.640 --> 01:18:49.279
after the young? Where was he doing all of these things? See,

1215
01:18:49.319 --> 01:18:51.720
we can just offer these sentimental ideas. Now. Part of

1216
01:18:51.760 --> 01:18:54.039
the problem is you're taking a promise that has nothing

1217
01:18:54.079 --> 01:18:58.880
to do with us and making it about us. This

1218
01:18:59.039 --> 01:19:01.600
is a very specific promise for a very specific group

1219
01:19:01.600 --> 01:19:04.720
of people and a very specific situation. When you try

1220
01:19:04.720 --> 01:19:06.960
to apply it to today, well then someone's going to

1221
01:19:07.000 --> 01:19:09.600
bring up an article like this and go what about this?

1222
01:19:10.039 --> 01:19:12.079
On that same website. I mean I could go to it.

1223
01:19:12.159 --> 01:19:16.159
I could just bring probably fifty articles about these horrible

1224
01:19:16.199 --> 01:19:20.239
situations that happened within the church, within Christianity. Now, all

1225
01:19:20.279 --> 01:19:22.159
we want to do is say, well, he wasn't a Christian,

1226
01:19:22.199 --> 01:19:24.479
he wasn't a Christian, but where was God in protecting

1227
01:19:24.520 --> 01:19:31.920
the child? I know this makes people uncomfortable. I know

1228
01:19:31.960 --> 01:19:34.279
people get mad at me. But we have to be

1229
01:19:34.359 --> 01:19:37.239
willing to face this head on because we get these

1230
01:19:37.279 --> 01:19:41.399
sentimental sermons. So and again it's supposed to connect to baptism.

1231
01:19:41.760 --> 01:19:44.000
Is baptism the solution to all of this. We're not

1232
01:19:44.039 --> 01:19:46.039
getting any specific answers.

1233
01:19:51.039 --> 01:19:55.239
Before we describe in further detail what the text says

1234
01:19:55.319 --> 01:20:01.319
about that care. It's important to make this point, and

1235
01:20:01.359 --> 01:20:07.039
that's in relation to the young lambs of God's covenant.

1236
01:20:08.079 --> 01:20:13.119
God's flock includes, according to the text, the little lambs,

1237
01:20:14.479 --> 01:20:18.520
and what that teaches is the truth elsewhere taught in

1238
01:20:18.560 --> 01:20:22.319
the Word of God, that God establishes his covenant with

1239
01:20:22.520 --> 01:20:25.399
believers and their seed.

1240
01:20:28.319 --> 01:20:32.840
This text has literally nothing to do with that. This

1241
01:20:32.880 --> 01:20:36.000
is about Judah, has nothing to do with us or

1242
01:20:36.039 --> 01:20:41.199
the church or anything like that. Man, Okay, now it's

1243
01:20:41.239 --> 01:20:42.560
getting frustrating.

1244
01:20:44.920 --> 01:20:49.199
With believers and their spiritual children, the children of the

1245
01:20:49.319 --> 01:20:59.319
Promise already as children, and that is the basis on

1246
01:20:59.359 --> 01:21:03.600
which we add minister to them the sacrament to baptism.

1247
01:21:06.279 --> 01:21:08.720
There we go. So this is being used as a

1248
01:21:08.760 --> 01:21:11.640
proof text for infant baptism. This has got to be

1249
01:21:11.720 --> 01:21:14.079
the worst proof text for infant baptism I've ever seen

1250
01:21:14.079 --> 01:21:16.920
in the history of humankind. The second he refers to

1251
01:21:16.960 --> 01:21:19.159
it as a sacrament. Now we have to get into

1252
01:21:19.199 --> 01:21:22.680
the argument about the language sacrament. What the word sacrament

1253
01:21:22.720 --> 01:21:26.159
typically means a visible means of grace. So you're going

1254
01:21:26.199 --> 01:21:28.199
to say that when you put water on the baby, well,

1255
01:21:28.239 --> 01:21:31.119
then something happens. What happens here? What happens? Are their

1256
01:21:31.159 --> 01:21:34.640
sins washed away? Are they regenerated? Are are you just

1257
01:21:34.680 --> 01:21:36.680
putting a seal of the Covenant on them? And it's

1258
01:21:36.680 --> 01:21:39.600
not sacramental. So now we got to get into a

1259
01:21:39.760 --> 01:21:43.920
whole Is this baptismal regeneration? I'm assuming most likely it's not.

1260
01:21:44.399 --> 01:21:47.079
But you know, if you call it a sacrament, then

1261
01:21:47.119 --> 01:21:49.720
it's a visible means of grace. What does the grace be, Well,

1262
01:21:49.760 --> 01:21:52.399
the child is set apart. Look, if this is Presbyterian,

1263
01:21:52.560 --> 01:21:54.520
I've known I don't even know how many people I've

1264
01:21:54.520 --> 01:21:56.960
known who were baptized as babies and Presbyterian churches. I

1265
01:21:57.000 --> 01:21:58.560
went to basic training with a lot of people who

1266
01:21:58.600 --> 01:22:01.479
are baptized Presbyterians. I'm telling you it didn't do a

1267
01:22:01.560 --> 01:22:04.359
thing for them. I can guarantee you that many of

1268
01:22:04.399 --> 01:22:05.880
them were atheist and agnostic.

1269
01:22:13.680 --> 01:22:18.399
The promise of God that He establishes his covenant with

1270
01:22:18.560 --> 01:22:26.159
believers and their seed. As believing parents, we cling tightly

1271
01:22:26.359 --> 01:22:31.199
to that promise of God, knowing that that promise of

1272
01:22:31.239 --> 01:22:34.199
God is sure and it stands, and that He will

1273
01:22:34.279 --> 01:22:40.800
certainly keep his covenant and continue it amongst our children.

1274
01:22:43.359 --> 01:22:47.920
We oppose, on the one hand, the error those like

1275
01:22:48.000 --> 01:22:51.359
the Federal Vision who teach that God establishes his covenant

1276
01:22:51.680 --> 01:22:57.520
with every single one of the children of believers. We

1277
01:22:57.600 --> 01:23:02.039
know that cannot be true. Election and reprobation cuts through

1278
01:23:02.119 --> 01:23:05.880
the line of believers and their children. But we also,

1279
01:23:05.960 --> 01:23:08.159
on the other hand, oppose the error of those like

1280
01:23:08.199 --> 01:23:11.079
the Baptists who say that God does not establish his

1281
01:23:11.199 --> 01:23:14.920
covenant with any of the children at all. That word

1282
01:23:14.920 --> 01:23:16.520
of view them and to deal with them as they

1283
01:23:16.560 --> 01:23:20.560
grow up as really no different spiritually than the children

1284
01:23:20.600 --> 01:23:26.960
of the He then as children already as children, God

1285
01:23:27.039 --> 01:23:32.960
is pleased to establish his covenant with them.

1286
01:23:33.039 --> 01:23:35.800
Look, I'm not even gonna get into the criticisms a

1287
01:23:35.880 --> 01:23:39.319
Baptist here, right. You know what my criticism is, Isaiah

1288
01:23:39.399 --> 01:23:42.920
forty verse eleven has nothing to do with what you're

1289
01:23:42.960 --> 01:23:46.680
talking about. That's the issue you're preaching Isaiah forty eleven. Then,

1290
01:23:46.760 --> 01:23:49.319
for crying out loud, this is a message to those

1291
01:23:49.319 --> 01:23:54.039
in Judah. The text literally says, be not afraid say

1292
01:23:54.239 --> 01:24:00.279
unto the cities of Judah, behold your God. This is

1293
01:24:00.279 --> 01:24:02.079
not about being a Baptist. This is not being about

1294
01:24:02.079 --> 01:24:05.640
a Presbyterian. This is leading comprehension that you learned in

1295
01:24:05.720 --> 01:24:07.279
elementary school.

1296
01:24:10.640 --> 01:24:14.319
And on the basis of that promise of God, we

1297
01:24:14.399 --> 01:24:19.119
administer the sacrament of baptism to all of the children

1298
01:24:19.159 --> 01:24:22.479
of believing parents, knowing that it will serve as a

1299
01:24:22.560 --> 01:24:27.119
means of grace to the children of the promis.

1300
01:24:29.039 --> 01:24:32.399
Okay, so it is a means of grace. So he's

1301
01:24:32.479 --> 01:24:35.359
using the term sacrament in a correct way. Okay, that's good.

1302
01:24:35.520 --> 01:24:37.239
A lot of times I hear I've heard people who

1303
01:24:37.399 --> 01:24:40.479
are not Presbyterian or Lutherans and they refer to the

1304
01:24:40.520 --> 01:24:42.600
things as sacraments. I'm like, what in the world are

1305
01:24:42.600 --> 01:24:45.199
you talking about. You go to a Baptist church, they're

1306
01:24:45.239 --> 01:24:48.039
not sacraments to ordinances. If you call them sacraments, then

1307
01:24:48.039 --> 01:24:49.800
there are means of grace. You don't believe in a

1308
01:24:49.840 --> 01:24:52.479
means of If you believe in a sacramental system, then

1309
01:24:52.920 --> 01:24:56.039
this makes sense. So you take the baby. They're weak,

1310
01:24:56.199 --> 01:24:58.239
they're a lamb, they're all of this. You put the

1311
01:24:58.279 --> 01:25:01.680
sacrament on them and both means of grace. So now

1312
01:25:01.760 --> 01:25:05.039
God that then the way God helps correct all of

1313
01:25:05.039 --> 01:25:08.840
those weaknesses is through baptism. Well, now you get into

1314
01:25:08.880 --> 01:25:12.439
all kinds of issues because it doesn't work for I

1315
01:25:12.439 --> 01:25:15.079
don't know how many kids I've seen who have been baptized.

1316
01:25:15.119 --> 01:25:17.640
I've worked with so many people in the military, and

1317
01:25:17.680 --> 01:25:19.479
I was like, oh, your baptized as a baby. Well,

1318
01:25:19.520 --> 01:25:23.680
obviously something went wrong there, something went wrong there, something

1319
01:25:23.720 --> 01:25:25.640
went wrong there. Now I know they always have a

1320
01:25:25.680 --> 01:25:28.920
way out of it. Well, it doesn't guarantee anything. Well,

1321
01:25:29.000 --> 01:25:32.279
so then the means of grace is not a guarantee.

1322
01:25:32.319 --> 01:25:35.039
God can't do a work and the means of grace

1323
01:25:35.239 --> 01:25:40.359
to actually bring about Now is it a means of

1324
01:25:40.359 --> 01:25:44.279
grace and only changing the child positionally? But it does

1325
01:25:44.359 --> 01:25:47.279
nothing for them practically, But then it would be then

1326
01:25:47.359 --> 01:25:50.920
being changed positionally not on the basis of faith, but

1327
01:25:51.039 --> 01:25:54.760
on the basis of water. Oh, Or is it on

1328
01:25:54.760 --> 01:25:57.119
the basis of the parents' faith? Oh? Now we got

1329
01:25:57.159 --> 01:25:59.039
all kinds of other theological issues.

1330
01:26:06.560 --> 01:26:10.720
Is the God and shepherd of us and our seed

1331
01:26:10.800 --> 01:26:21.079
after us? He cares for us. He cares for us,

1332
01:26:21.600 --> 01:26:31.359
tenderly cares for us by providing us with all that

1333
01:26:31.399 --> 01:26:36.199
we need in the midst of this life and the

1334
01:26:36.239 --> 01:26:41.720
pilgrimage along which he leads us. And that's taught in

1335
01:26:41.800 --> 01:26:47.319
the three phrases key phrases in verse eleven. First of all,

1336
01:26:47.800 --> 01:26:51.199
it says he shall feed his flock like a shepherd,

1337
01:26:51.239 --> 01:26:56.439
and that word feed means more generally to shepherd. He

1338
01:26:56.640 --> 01:27:00.479
shepherds his flock like a shepherd. And what's involved there

1339
01:27:00.560 --> 01:27:03.640
is not just the one aspect of the work of

1340
01:27:03.680 --> 01:27:07.239
a shepherd in feeding, but all of the activities and

1341
01:27:07.279 --> 01:27:09.920
the callings that belong to a shepherd and the care

1342
01:27:10.000 --> 01:27:14.039
of his sheep. The shepherd certainly feeds his sheep by

1343
01:27:14.159 --> 01:27:17.920
leading them to the green pastures and the quiet waters.

1344
01:27:18.439 --> 01:27:23.479
But he also leads them and he guides them. He

1345
01:27:23.520 --> 01:27:28.159
doesn't drive them, but he leads them, and he guides them,

1346
01:27:28.680 --> 01:27:32.800
and he protects them and defends them against the threat

1347
01:27:32.880 --> 01:27:38.880
of the wolves and the predators. The shepherd provides a

1348
01:27:39.119 --> 01:27:42.960
comprehensive care for his needy sheep.

1349
01:27:46.000 --> 01:27:49.239
Is it spiritual or is it physical? If it's physical,

1350
01:27:49.279 --> 01:27:52.600
then who was protecting the kid who has sexually abused

1351
01:27:52.760 --> 01:27:57.359
eighty accounts. I'm not saying those are eighty separate occasions,

1352
01:27:57.359 --> 01:28:01.199
but eighty counts go through story after story, off the

1353
01:28:01.239 --> 01:28:04.439
story of the story, the story of story. Now, if

1354
01:28:04.439 --> 01:28:06.399
you're gonna say protect, he's gonna do all of this

1355
01:28:06.520 --> 01:28:09.760
You've got now in their particular case in Isaiah forty,

1356
01:28:09.800 --> 01:28:12.079
you know where the text actually is found. It makes

1357
01:28:12.079 --> 01:28:16.560
perfect sense. He's literally going to guide them through ordinary means,

1358
01:28:16.600 --> 01:28:21.920
through Cyrus to bring them from Babylon back into their land.

1359
01:28:22.079 --> 01:28:26.640
It's tangible, it's physical, it's material. It's going to occur.

1360
01:28:27.319 --> 01:28:28.720
I just don't know how many of these things I

1361
01:28:28.760 --> 01:28:30.479
can rip out of context and make about me.

1362
01:28:33.439 --> 01:28:37.039
Then, secondly, the Word of God says he shall gather

1363
01:28:37.159 --> 01:28:41.319
the lambs with his arm and carry them in his boosom.

1364
01:28:42.880 --> 01:28:48.720
Those little newborn lambs that easily tire and easily go astray.

1365
01:28:48.800 --> 01:28:52.319
As the shepherd's leading them on the way, he takes

1366
01:28:52.399 --> 01:28:56.359
them in his arms, and he holds them close to

1367
01:28:56.600 --> 01:29:02.600
his heart so that they don't go as and so

1368
01:29:02.640 --> 01:29:06.800
that when they're exhausted, they are brought along their way safely.

1369
01:29:09.119 --> 01:29:20.880
So every kid baptized never can go astray. Right, I mean,

1370
01:29:20.920 --> 01:29:23.720
if you're connecting this to baptism, then every child that

1371
01:29:23.800 --> 01:29:26.279
is baptized, God carries them close to his bosom. They

1372
01:29:26.279 --> 01:29:28.760
can never go astray, they can never be pulled away.

1373
01:29:29.319 --> 01:29:32.119
So they're all going to grow up believing and having

1374
01:29:32.159 --> 01:29:35.920
sound doctrine because they can't go astray because he's holding

1375
01:29:36.600 --> 01:29:42.039
I don't understand. This has lots of beautiful words, but

1376
01:29:42.239 --> 01:29:43.920
when I'm trying to break it down to what it

1377
01:29:43.960 --> 01:29:46.960
means practically, and it's starting to it just deteriorates. It

1378
01:29:47.000 --> 01:29:50.960
falls apart. It's like a mirage. Oh there's water there,

1379
01:29:51.520 --> 01:29:54.319
and there's no water. It's just dust. And you're like, well,

1380
01:29:54.359 --> 01:29:57.359
what does this mean in any practical way. We're gonna

1381
01:29:57.359 --> 01:29:58.960
have to stop there. I'll just let it go to

1382
01:29:59.760 --> 01:30:01.039
a stopping point. Here.

1383
01:30:03.159 --> 01:30:05.840
He takes the little lambs in his arm and he

1384
01:30:06.039 --> 01:30:13.520
carries them in his bosom, close to his heart. Then thirdly,

1385
01:30:13.760 --> 01:30:15.159
Versy Levin says.

1386
01:30:16.600 --> 01:30:19.840
See, there's no explanation of what any of this means

1387
01:30:19.880 --> 01:30:22.640
in a practical way, so I can make this all

1388
01:30:22.640 --> 01:30:25.239
work practically in Isaiah forty eleven, because I know exactly

1389
01:30:25.239 --> 01:30:27.399
who it's about, and I know exactly how it played

1390
01:30:27.399 --> 01:30:31.399
out in history. I know exactly how it occurred. Cyrus

1391
01:30:31.439 --> 01:30:35.399
comes to power, Cyrus releases them and lets them go back.

1392
01:30:35.439 --> 01:30:37.680
You can see the decree of Cyrus and Ezra chapter one.

1393
01:30:37.800 --> 01:30:40.720
We know exactly how it played out in history. There's

1394
01:30:40.760 --> 01:30:45.800
no it's not sentimental. We don't have to spiritualize aligorize.

1395
01:30:45.840 --> 01:30:47.840
We know, and it has not a thing to do

1396
01:30:47.920 --> 01:30:56.439
with infant baptism. Man, unbelievable. I don't even know what

1397
01:30:56.479 --> 01:30:57.239
you do with all of that.

1398
01:30:57.319 --> 01:30:58.199
You go.

1399
01:30:58.800 --> 01:31:04.079
I don't remember the opening illustration. I said, I'm gonna

1400
01:31:04.119 --> 01:31:06.000
end up in the saloon. That's where I'm at it,

1401
01:31:06.239 --> 01:31:09.840
Ladies and gentlemen. I just don't Why is Isaiah forty

1402
01:31:10.439 --> 01:31:15.439
so difficult? I don't get it. I know we when

1403
01:31:15.520 --> 01:31:18.239
pastors preach, they want to make it about us, But

1404
01:31:18.319 --> 01:31:20.640
you've got to somehow stay true to the text to

1405
01:31:20.800 --> 01:31:24.760
some level, and when you leave the I mean, I

1406
01:31:24.800 --> 01:31:27.039
don't even know how all of this stuff ended up

1407
01:31:27.039 --> 01:31:29.840
in the text, and really it brought up more philological

1408
01:31:29.920 --> 01:31:32.560
problems than it did at all. And off free people

1409
01:31:32.640 --> 01:31:35.039
may say that was comforting, there was no comfort because

1410
01:31:35.079 --> 01:31:36.840
now I'm left with, wait a minute, is God the

1411
01:31:36.840 --> 01:31:39.439
one who comforts or is the God one striking me

1412
01:31:39.520 --> 01:31:42.680
down with all of these problems? Or am I supposed

1413
01:31:42.720 --> 01:31:44.680
to find comfort from the one who's given me all

1414
01:31:44.720 --> 01:31:49.479
the problems? Which again, very much, I know it's very

1415
01:31:49.680 --> 01:31:52.000
blunt description, but it's like someone touching you in the

1416
01:31:52.000 --> 01:31:54.199
fish slapping you, going, oh, now, come here, let me

1417
01:31:54.199 --> 01:31:56.319
comfort you, slapping you, Oh, let me come here and

1418
01:31:56.319 --> 01:32:01.119
comfort you. That is confusing, and any reasonable logical person

1419
01:32:01.479 --> 01:32:04.199
would ask those questions. And I don't care if the

1420
01:32:04.279 --> 01:32:06.760
church doesn't like those questions, but there's got to be

1421
01:32:06.760 --> 01:32:09.640
a place for people to struggle with that very concept

1422
01:32:09.720 --> 01:32:18.600
because it is confusing and it is confounding, convoluted, And

1423
01:32:18.680 --> 01:32:22.840
we'll stop there. So Isaiah forty nine through eleven, we're

1424
01:32:22.880 --> 01:32:26.319
still I mean, this one was better than probably this

1425
01:32:26.359 --> 01:32:29.000
one was better than probably every sermon we've ever heard

1426
01:32:29.079 --> 01:32:33.439
so far on Isaiah forty This one probably better because

1427
01:32:33.479 --> 01:32:35.199
at least he spent a lot of he read the

1428
01:32:35.319 --> 01:32:38.359
entire chapter. He did go through some of the context,

1429
01:32:38.520 --> 01:32:41.800
but at the same time, as good as it was there,

1430
01:32:41.960 --> 01:32:47.479
it left us just utterly confused. And I still don't

1431
01:32:47.479 --> 01:32:49.399
know how on the word we get the Sacrament of

1432
01:32:49.479 --> 01:32:54.520
infant baptism and Isaiah forty verse eleven. How in the world.

1433
01:32:55.359 --> 01:32:57.560
And trust me, if you had a better text, you

1434
01:32:57.640 --> 01:32:59.399
think you would go to I don't know. The passage

1435
01:32:59.399 --> 01:33:04.119
just says baptize the babies. You know that would be

1436
01:33:04.479 --> 01:33:08.880
That'd be a good text. That would be a really

1437
01:33:08.880 --> 01:33:12.159
good text, wouldn't it. Hey, what is preventing me from

1438
01:33:12.199 --> 01:33:18.079
being baptized? Well do you believe? Oh? Okay, well, now

1439
01:33:18.239 --> 01:33:21.840
we can get into all kinds of Yeah, all right,

1440
01:33:21.880 --> 01:33:24.560
thanks for listening. Everyone, Have a good Saturday, have a

1441
01:33:24.560 --> 01:33:28.920
good Sunday. And yeah, I wish that I wish I

1442
01:33:28.920 --> 01:33:31.640
could give us something more here. I know I'm left

1443
01:33:31.640 --> 01:33:36.359
with lots of confusion here, but that's not my fault, right,

1444
01:33:36.439 --> 01:33:38.680
My job is where I'm just listening to sermons on

1445
01:33:38.680 --> 01:33:42.119
Isaiah forty The sermons leave us here like I want

1446
01:33:42.159 --> 01:33:44.039
you to be like, because if I was just listening

1447
01:33:44.039 --> 01:33:45.960
to this sermon, I'd be left with all these questions

1448
01:33:45.960 --> 01:33:48.039
and all these struggles. So I want to leave you,

1449
01:33:48.439 --> 01:33:50.680
and then you work through it and you see how

1450
01:33:50.760 --> 01:33:53.199
you answer all of this. Thanks for listening, God bless