Oct. 22, 2024

Textual Hijackers

Textual Hijackers

A discussion about how we hijack scripture

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A discussion about how we hijack scripture

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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. Okay, to listen

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to this episode. Yeah, a Bible would be great to have,

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but what you need is some type of timer, some

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type of stopwatch. I mean it, I need you to

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pull up a timer right now, a clock, a stopwatch,

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something that so that you can you can mark down

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how long it takes before we are inserted into the text.

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We are going to time it. In fact, what I

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would like you to do. What I would like you

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to do is I want you to start, maybe for

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the next couple of weeks, every sermon you listen to,

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just set a timer as soon as the sermon begins,

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hit start, and then just say how long before we

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are inserted into the text next. This is especially true

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with sermons from the Old Testament. So we're gonna be

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timing how long it takes before we are inserted into

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a text. Are you ready? Are you ready to do that?

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That's all we're gonna That's really all we're going to do. Now.

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I'm going to challenge why we are inserted into the

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text and call it into question and tell you all

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of the problems with doing that. But the main thing

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is I just want you to see for yourself how

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quickly preachers in sermons insert people into the text who

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don't belong there. Okay, are you ready? But before we

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do that, I have to say welcome everyone. It is Monday,

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October twenty first, twenty twenty four. It is currently five

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thirteen pm Central time, and I am coming to you

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live from the Theology Central Studio. Keep wanting to say

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headquarters for some reason, studio located right here in Abilene, Texas.

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It really is becoming the headquarters of, you know, my

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mental health breakdown. Right, this is really I'm gonna have

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to turn this studio into a mental hospital. I'm gonna

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have to hire you know, professionals to come treat me,

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and then maybe we can do all of the treatments

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live on the air and you can see my complete

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breakdown and then hopefully maybe I can be repaired. I

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don't think there's any repairing me at this point. And

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what is going to cause my breakdown, Ladies and gentlemen,

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The thing that's going to cause me to have a

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complete and total mental breakdown is Christianity. Okay, I know

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that sounds very negative, but man Alive. It's been a

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crazy Hasn't it been crazy? If you've been following along

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with the podcast, hasn't it been nuts? I mean, we

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next thing, you know, we have a floating axead that

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represents I don't know, seven hundred and fifty seven thousand things.

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You can go to Proverbs chapter thirty and the next thing,

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you know, we're talking about eating poor people and heads

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being chopped off and drinking their blood and eating their flesh.

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And you're like, what is going on? And what is

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going on is how Christians handle the Word of God.

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There is really just there's no there's no guardrails, there's

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no curb, there's no fence, there's just a complete free

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for all. It's anarchy. And I know, I what's weird is,

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in one sense, I always know that I've known this

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for pretty much most of my Christian life. Of course,

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now I can much more, I can articulate it much

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more in the context of church history and of different things.

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I've always known it, but there's been those times where

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I can just kind of push it back and just

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move on, right. But then there's sometimes you're just so

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confronted with the chaos you just you can't. I'll never forget.

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I'll never forget. When we were in the Book of

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Revelation and I don't even remember which chapter it was,

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and I came to the pulpit and told everyone twenty

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three I think it was twenty twenty three commentaries, and

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we had like over it was, well, it was so

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close to a hundred interpretation. It was some crazy number

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of interpretations for one section. And you're just like, look,

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just pick what you want. I mean, and when it

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comes to any verse in the Bible, just pick the

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interpretation you want. There's bound to be one that will

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please you. There's bound to be one you will like.

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And I was just listening to a sermon a minute

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ago that says, you know why the world has a

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problem with the Bible because they have a problem with

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what it says. And I want to say, ladies and gentlemen,

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what are you talking about. The world has a problem

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with the Bible because they have a problem with what

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it says. Yeah, because they haven't figured out that they

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can just make it say whatever they wanted to say,

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Like us Christians. Due the Christians, our message to the

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world is don't get bothered by it. Just make it

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say with whatever you wanted to say, because that's what

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we do. And then you say you say you make it,

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say whatever you wanted to say, you say that that

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agrees with God, and then you say that everyone else

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is wrong. That's what happens. Sorry, but I'm getting I'm

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getting sidetracked. Yeah, I'm losing my mind.

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All right.

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Here we go, ladies and gentlemen, We're about to engage

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in a very very important scientific study. We are going

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to test how long it takes before a pastor takes

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a chapter in the Book of Isaiah and inserts you

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and I into the text. How long does it take? Now,

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To be fair, I have fast forwarded this sermon because

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the beginning of it is simply him reading every single verse,

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well not every single verse, a good portion of Isaiah

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forty three. Then he prays, and then after he praise,

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he goes into a sermon. So we're gonna actually start

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it where the sermon actually begins, so from the beginning

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of the actual sermons. So, in other words, if you're

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listening to a sermon and they're doing their typical hey,

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thank you for bringing us to this, you know conference,

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this is the greatest church in the history of the

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world all the and I let me tell you a joke,

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dak okay, whatever, and they do all of the little

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song and dance before when a sermon actually begins. I

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really want you to start doing this, all right, and

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you can get your kids involved and get everyone involved.

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All right, We're going to listen to a sermon. Are

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you ready? How quickly do they insert us into the text?

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This is perfect for Old Testament sermons, but even in

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New Testament? All right, but here we go. So the

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text is Isaiah forty three. The text is Isaiah forty three.

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Now I could immediately start explaining some facts and statistics

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to you, but I'm not going to do that. We're

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gonna listen to this, and we're gonna listen. I want

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you to time it. How long does it take before

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we are inserted into the text? You're ready to play along?

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You're ready? You're ready? All right? This is game day

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on the Theology Central podcast. In today's game, How quickly

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does it take before a pastor preaching Isaiah forty three

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inserts us into the text? Are you ready? Here we go.

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I could spend like Matthew Henry page chapter page, talking

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about every line here because it's it's such good stuff.

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But now he's talked when he says, but now he's

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talking about the rebellion of the people in chapter forty two,

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and now he says, but now thus says the Lord

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who created you, oh Jacob, and he who formed you,

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Oh Israia this word and he who created it's about ah.

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And it appears a couple of times in this passage.

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And the point is that God is our creator. But

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we're going to see later.

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On how long was that he's our creator? Immediately it

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goes to r not their creator, not about whom the

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text is actually about, but our So already we get

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I mean that was just I don't know, it wasn't

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even timing it. I mean, that's less than a minute,

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that's less than sixty seconds, and we already have he's

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our creator, so we're already inserted. Does he does he

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immediately go back and he's going to really really focus

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on who the text is about or why is it

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what or how much more is it gonna become about us?

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Let's just listen.

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That he's not only our creator in the sense that

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he he actually made us, although that's certainly true, but

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he's also our creator and that he is our savior.

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Notice, are us? Are us? Not them? Are us? Are?

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Do you immediately catch that? Look we're in Isaiah forty three.

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The text literally reads, but now thus saith the Lord

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that created THEE, who's the thee, Oh Jacob, and he

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hath formed the Oh Israel, Phil not fear not, for

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I have redeemed THEE. I have called THEE by name,

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Thou art mine. But instead of saying they or them?

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Are they? And no, it's us? Are? How did how

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did we get inserted in so quickly?

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Now?

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Wait a minute, Wait a minute, I may be jumping

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the gun. He's gonna circle right back. He's gonna go

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right back to Israel right now, because I mean, that's

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what the text is about. Now I knew the reason.

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You can say, well, how did you know? Because I

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listened to enough in the minute he said Matthew Henry.

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The same thing happened earlier today, right the last broadcast

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he mentioned Matthew. As soon as someone mentions Matthew Henry,

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I know we're off to the r. I know Matthew

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Henry's the most well respected commentary. I was told my

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whole life Matthew Henry. Matthew Henry even in the independent

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fundamental Baptist world, which was bizarre. You need to get

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yourself a good Matthew Henry commentary. I'm like, have you

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ever read the commentary? It doesn't agree with anything you teach?

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What are you talking about?

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Why?

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Okay, but I digress. But here we go. So as

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soon as I heard Matthew Henry, I knew exactly where

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this was going to go. I knew exactly that we

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were going to be inserted in like five point two seconds.

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I know, that's a little bit of hyperble. Okay, maybe

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it was twenty point three seconds. Someone out there has

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the time. You can tell me the time. But here

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we go. Are you ready? Let's see, let's see are

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we going to be Do you think is he going

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to add us more into the text? What do you think?

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What do you think?

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And he goes on to say that fear not. I

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have met Christians that were fearful. I mentioned this before.

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I know this lady, and every time I meet her,

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she tells me about the bad things that are going

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on in Concho and I'm sure that many of them

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are true, perhaps not all, but many of them but

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what When I meet her, I try to encourage her

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and tell her about the good things, about how God

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is working in people's hearts and lives, and how the

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spirit of God is overcoming the enemy. And yet she

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almost always seems to respond with but what about and

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what about that? Well, God's answer to her and to

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you is fear not. And the reason is.

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The God's answer. The God's answer to her and to

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you is fear not. And he's taking that from Isaiah

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forty three. So he's taking Isaiah forty three is very

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explicit message to a very specific people. And now that's

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to you. How did we get inserted? So fat?

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Wait?

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Wait, maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe hang on, hang on,

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hang on, hang on, Maybe I'm maybe I'm jumping the

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gun here. Maybe let's let I know he's going to

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get to Israel. Let's see, let's see. We may want

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a time, how long it takes to get back to Israel.

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Hang on, Let's see what happens.

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For I have redeemed you, and the word redeem means

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to buy back. We talked about this in Sunday school,

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and that is that you buy back something. And we

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have been bought back by the precious Blood of Jesus

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he is.

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Please note, all of this is we, us, you, It's

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not them or they. Immediately, the entirety of the text

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is being completely hijacked by us. How quickly do we

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hijack the text? Not how quickly I forget I was saying,

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how quickly do we insert ourselves? How quickly do we

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hijack the text? It's almost like, you know, welcome to

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first Baptist Church of whatever town. Welcome here and be

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prepared because in the next few minutes are hijacking is

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going to take place, and we're gonna hijack the Word

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of God. We're gonna take it over. We're gonna kick

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in the door to the cockpit. We're gonna take over,

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and we're gonna fly the Bible to wherever we want

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to land it because we're in charge. God is not

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in charge. I'm in charge. I'm flying the plane. I'm

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taking over. We just hijack it. We're hijackers. That's what

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we are. Christians are textual high We just come. We

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don't even need a gun. We just walk in take

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the Bible. I'm like, I'm sorry, God, please get out

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of the cockpit, Please please get out of the pilot's chair.

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I'm taking over this plane and I'm gonna fly this

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passage to wherever we'll will work best for us, and

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we'll land in a nice tropical location and we'll spend

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the rest of our life, you know, hanging out on

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the beach. Right, Okay, maybe I'm really taking an illustration

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a little too far. We're hijackers. That's what we are.

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We're textual hijackers, right, That's what we are. We need

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we need to start wearing shirts that say textual hijackers.

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That's what we need. All Christians need shirts that say

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textual hijackers. Stop claiming about the stop yelling about the homosexuals,

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stop yelling about the LGBTQ, start looking at ourselves. You

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and I are textual hijackers. We hijack the Word of

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God and we do whatever we want with it. And

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then we pat ourselves on the back. Say, wait, we

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think the Bible is the final authority. It's not the

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final authority. You kicked God out of the pilot chair

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and you took over the plane.

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Pay the price for our salvation. We deserve to die.

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We deserve to die, just as Jesus died on a cross,

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cruelly suffering for our sins, and he took our sins

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upon and he paid the price. I have redeemed you,

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I have called you by your name, and you are mine.

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Think about this for a minute. God claims you as

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his own, he said.

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I mean, he's just doubling that you you you. He's

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taking every phrase and making it about you. You you

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you you you you. It's like someone just needs to

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tell Israel, hey, you just you're not invited to this party.

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All right, we know that it seems to be addressed

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to you, But we stole the letter, we stole the book,

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we stole the prophecy, and it's all about us. It's

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all about uh, everything is you, you you you you

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us us us US. Let's just go a little bit

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further and then we'll do some actual work on Isaiah

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forty three. And I want to just try to demonstrate

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to you I'm not even criticizing the sermon, because you

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know what, this is what we do with everything, this

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is everything is about us. I mean, what happened with

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the entire story about the floating accent. It turned into

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about you and about me and about you and about

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me when it's about Jesus and the boat coming the storm,

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it's about you and me. When it's Jesus feeding the

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five thousand, it's about you and me. Literally, we make

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everything about us. I think we are textual high we

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are narcissistic textual hijackers. Maybe maybe that's that's the shirt

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we should wear. What is a Christian equals a narcissistic

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textual hijacker. That's what a Christian is? Right, Okay, all right?

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Maybe maybe may's that a little too extreme, my too

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exaggerating it, or maybe I'm understating it. Okay, let's see,

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he's going to get back to Israel. Right at any second,

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he's going to get back to Israel. I mean, it

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took him only about fifteen seconds to get us there.

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But you know, he's going to get back to who

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the text is about. It's got to be any second.

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As you are mine. He looks at you and he says,

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you don't belong to the enemy, You don't belong to

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anything or anyone else. I love my country. I've told

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you this before. When I fly in from other countries

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in the plainlands, I sing God bless America, and everybody

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looks at me like I'm weird, and I don't care.

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I'm very patriotic. I love my deeply love my country,

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but I don't value my country more than I value God.

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There are people that do that. Sometimes people value their

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parents or their children or other people. And you should

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love others and especially your own family. But we belong

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to God. We are his children. When we pray, we

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pray our Father. We're speaking to the God who has

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loved us and redeemed us and called us his children.

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Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us,

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that we should be called the sons of God, and

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that is what we own are. He says, when you

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pass through the waters, I will be with you. In

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the ancient world, they didn't have all these you know,

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one hundred and twelve elements. I don't know how many

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they've counted so far. They thought of They thought of

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the earth, they thought of fire, they thought of water.

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And I think he's kind of reflecting on that when

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you pass through the waters, I will be with you,

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and through the rivers they shall not overflow you. You

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know that there weren't many rivers in Israel. Even the

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Jordan River wasn't that great. But when there were floods,

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they could be very dangerous. And God is saying, just

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like during a flood, I will take care of you.

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When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned,

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nor shall the flames scorch you. And of course we

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can't help. But think about Shadrack, Mishek and a bed

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in Ago, how they were thrown into the fire furnace

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where even the guards died from the fire of that furnace,

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and yet God preserved Shadrack and a bed and to go.

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And I especially love their words where they say God

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will deliver us, and even if he doesn't know this,

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that he is God because they are trusting in him.

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And I for verse three, for I am the Lord

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your God. One time I was teaching in a Christian

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school and the kids were kind of obnoxious, and it

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wasn't one of our schools, and I said, God is

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my God. And one of the kids said he's not

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your God. He's everybody's God. And I was like, what

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you know. I mean, I didn't say he wasn't other

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people's God. I just said he's my God. And the

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kid was still not satisfied. She was like, oh, you

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shouldn't say God, God is your God. You know we

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should say that God is my God.

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Okay, I think you get the idea, right, I mean,

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do I need to blabor the point. I mean, it

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took twenty seconds to get us in there, and there's

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no way getting us back out, all right, But so

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let's just make a step back here and just consider this,

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all right, just some basic information. Isaiah forty three is

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a chapter, obviously in the Book of Isaiah, where God

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speaks through the prophet Isaiah to comfort his people is

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Rayel all everybody to hear this again. Isaiah forty three

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is a chapter in the Book of Isaiah where God

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speaks through the prophet Isaiah to comfort his people Israel.

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This sermon is turning into trying to comfort us with

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the words given to comfort them. This chapter is a

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part of the longer Book of Comfort Isaiah forty through

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fifty five, which emphasizes God's sovereignty, faithfulness, and his promises

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to redeemed Israel, Israel after their exile and Babylon. Let

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me let me hear that again. It's God's faithfulness and

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his promises to Israel after their exile and Babylon. That's

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not you that's not me, that's not the church, that's them.

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Isaiah forty three focuses on God's special relationship with Israel,

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his role as their redeemer, and his promises of deliverance

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for them. The chapter reassures Israel of God's love and

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his commitment to protect them from harm despite their past failures.

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God emphasizes that he alone is the creator and savior,

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and he contrasts his powers with the impotence of idols.

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The chapter ends with a call for Israel to recognize

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their sin and seek redemption. Now I can outline the

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entire chapter for you if you would like. I have

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an entire outline right here. I broke it all down.

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I can go through the key themes through the entire book.

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But I can go through I can go through everything

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all right. I can go through an explanation here, I

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can go I've got so much written down here and

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copied and cut and paste from different sources. I have

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an all I've got a study Bible right here. I

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could read everything is going to tell you Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel.

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But we love to kick people out of the text

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and insert ourselves again. We're narcissistic textual hijackers. That's what

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Christianity is. See, there's an important point in the Bible,

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an important point in harmonutics. We've been talking about hermonutics,

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and that is when we interpret promises in the Bible.

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Do we not have to in many cases distinguish who

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the promise is being made to and who it isn't

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being made to. Sometimes we have to draw a distinction

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between promises made to Israel and those meant for the

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Church or individual believers. Today, whenever we come to a

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promise in the Bible, we have to ask ourselves who

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is this promise for? Is it conditional? Is it unconditional?

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And is it a place it may not be applicable

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to us? From a textual perspective, let me let me

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state this. This is why I hate sermons. This is

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why I loathe the entire sermons structure, the way sermons

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are done. Sermons are not done to are not Even

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though it gives the appearance that you're studying the text,

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you're actually not studying the text because from a textual perspective,

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From a textual perspective. Let me state that again from

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a textual perspective, Isaiah forty three is clearly directed towards Israel.

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The chapter mentions Israel by name. Do I need to

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read it again? But now thus saith the Lord that

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created thee O Jacob, and he hath formed thee O Israel.

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Fear not, for I have redeemed thee I have called

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thee by thy name. Thou art mine. Now if you

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want to say, but some of this can be applicable

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to us, well think, guess what first thing you would

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need to do is you would need to go through

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this section and explain what this meant to Israel within

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their historical content, within the historical context, and what it

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meant for their immediate future, and what it could mean

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for a future that's not yet occurred as of now. Right,

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that would be good. Then you could say, well, what

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could we learn from this well? And what ways can

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we in what ways do we relate to this? Does

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the Scripture say that God has formed us while the

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Bible says that He has created we are His creation? Okay, good,

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so we can draw, we can do some cross referencing,

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but you can't just come into the text and immediately

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insert ourselves. I'm not saying that we can't be found here,

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but it just immediately put us there and removed everyone else.

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And there's some other problems here as well. So so first,

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so let me let me just try to go So

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from a textual perspective, Isaiah is clearly directed towards Israel,

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because the chapter even mentions them by name, It reminds

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them of their unique covenant relationship with God and references

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specific events in Israel's history, such as their deliverance from Egypt.

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Look at forty three, verse sixteen. Thus saith the Lord,

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which maketh a way in the sea, and a path

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in the mighty waters, which bring forth the chariot and horses,

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the army, and the power. They shall lie down together.

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They shall not rise. They are extinct. They are quenched

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as toe. Clearly it's a reference to Israel. Israel, Israel, Israel,

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the tech. I mean, how many clues do you need,

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ladies and gentlemen. Look, one of the things that blows

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me aways is so many times it's in the reform camp.

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We care about exe Jesus, not is of Jesus. We

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care about really handling the Word of God, and next

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thing you know, you're in Ezekiel thirty six and we're there.

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All of a sudden, you're in Isaiah forty three, and

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we're there, and we just insert ourselves anywhere. These promises

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are rooted in God's covenant with Israel, particularly the promises

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of protection, restoration, and deliverance from Israel. Let me state

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that again, these promises given to Israel. Anytime we see

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promises given to Israel anytime, they are almost always rooted

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in God's covenant that he made with Israel, not with

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the spiritual Israel that everyone So many reformed people want

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to run to, to the nation of Israel, and guess

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what these include? Protection, restoration, and deliverance from exile, things

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that had direct historical fulfillment in Israel's return from Babylonian captivity.

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To apply these promises directly to modern Christians or the

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Church without regard to the original audience and convenient and

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covenant contexts could indeed create inconsistency. The promises in Isaiah

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forty three are part of the Mosaic Covenant and other

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Old Testament covenants which God made specifically with the nation

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of Israel. Taking promises out of their covenantal context and

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applying them broadly could distort the meaning and purpose they

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had in the original sense. And that's saying it lightly.

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You're hijacking the text. You're destroying the meaning of the text.

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You are making it say something that it does not say.

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And what you're doing is you're handing things to people saying, basically,

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these promises belong to you, and no, you cannot do that.

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The relationship between Old Testament Israel and the New Testament

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Church is a debated issue. Some theological frameworks, like dispensationalism,

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strongly emphasizes the distinction between Israel and the Church. According

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to this view, promises made to Israel specifically in the

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Old Testament should remain specifically for Israel and not to

462
00:26:36.480 --> 00:26:39.680
be transferred to the Church. This view highlights God's covenants

463
00:26:39.720 --> 00:26:42.359
with Israel are distinct and should not be conflated with

464
00:26:42.440 --> 00:26:45.079
promises to the Church and the New Testament. And obviously,

465
00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:47.039
I hold to that. Why do I hold to that?

466
00:26:47.200 --> 00:26:48.680
I hold to that because it's the only thing that

467
00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:52.759
makes any sense from an hermeneutical perspective. Everything else becomes

468
00:26:52.799 --> 00:26:56.759
subjective nonsense, where land doesn't mean land and Israel doesn't

469
00:26:56.799 --> 00:26:59.279
mean land or Israel, and this doesn't mean this, and

470
00:26:59.319 --> 00:27:01.680
this doesn't mean this. And I can take this promise

471
00:27:01.720 --> 00:27:03.880
and make it about us, but it's not a literal promise.

472
00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:06.759
It's a spiritual promise. I can take this promise, but well,

473
00:27:06.839 --> 00:27:08.920
it's kind of a we got to spiritualize the promise

474
00:27:08.920 --> 00:27:10.880
because it's not a literal promise. And the next thing,

475
00:27:10.920 --> 00:27:15.920
you know, I basically destroy the entire Bible. Other systems

476
00:27:15.960 --> 00:27:19.240
obviously tries to say, oh, this is spiritual iserl it's

477
00:27:19.240 --> 00:27:20.880
not Israel, and well, and then we get into all

478
00:27:20.920 --> 00:27:25.400
the problems. Now, taking these promises out of their original

479
00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:28.680
context and applying them directly to the modern believer can

480
00:27:28.759 --> 00:27:31.160
lead to. This is what it can lead to. These

481
00:27:31.200 --> 00:27:37.319
are not my words. Disappointment, discouragement, and frustration. When you're

482
00:27:37.359 --> 00:27:39.279
standing there preaching to people and you're in an Old

483
00:27:39.319 --> 00:27:42.519
Testament text and use it basically tell people, hey, this

484
00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:45.000
is for you. You can make the walls of Jericho

485
00:27:45.079 --> 00:27:47.319
come down in your life, you can kill the giants

486
00:27:47.400 --> 00:27:49.640
in your life. You can do this. You can do this,

487
00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:52.160
you can do this. God's gonna protect you, God's gonna

488
00:27:52.200 --> 00:27:55.400
provide for you. And you're taking all of these promises, well,

489
00:27:55.400 --> 00:27:57.240
the next thing, you know, you're gonna lead to disappointment.

490
00:27:57.279 --> 00:27:59.960
You're gonna lead the discouragement. You're gonna lead to disillusion,

491
00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:02.519
You're gonna lead to frustration. You're gonna lead to deconstruction.

492
00:28:02.759 --> 00:28:06.200
You may even lead people to defect and say, forget

493
00:28:06.200 --> 00:28:11.720
this nonsense. It doesn't work. For example, Isaiah forty three

494
00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:15.119
promises protection from physical harm. When you walk through the fire,

495
00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:17.480
you will not be burned. If a Christian takes this

496
00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:20.359
to mean that they will never face harm or suffer

497
00:28:20.599 --> 00:28:24.000
or suffering, they could feel disillusion when hardships inevitably come,

498
00:28:24.160 --> 00:28:27.720
leading to a sense of betrayal or confusion about God's faithfulness. Yeah,

499
00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:37.799
you think so many promises in the Old Testament, especially

500
00:28:37.880 --> 00:28:42.000
when Israel's involved, it's it's because God made very specific,

501
00:28:42.079 --> 00:28:45.720
detailed promises to Israel about I will do this, and

502
00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:47.119
I will do this, and I will do this, and

503
00:28:47.160 --> 00:28:48.680
I will do this, and I will do this. I

504
00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:52.119
can't go grab those and say, well, God will do

505
00:28:52.160 --> 00:28:54.000
these things for me. Either I have to see God

506
00:28:54.000 --> 00:28:55.880
will do these things for me literally, which we know

507
00:28:55.960 --> 00:28:58.599
that's not the case, or we have to then take

508
00:28:58.640 --> 00:29:02.559
the literal promises made to a literal nation, so spiritualize them.

509
00:29:02.640 --> 00:29:04.920
So then now they're just spiritual promises that don't really

510
00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:07.240
mean that God will actually do that in a practical way.

511
00:29:07.400 --> 00:29:09.519
He only will do that in a spiritual way. And

512
00:29:09.519 --> 00:29:13.119
then well then you just kind of then you just

513
00:29:13.200 --> 00:29:17.960
kind of destroy everything. Well, the promises in Isaiah forty

514
00:29:17.960 --> 00:29:21.279
three were specifically made to Israel. Principles about God's character

515
00:29:22.480 --> 00:29:25.279
can be relevant. We see God's love for his people,

516
00:29:25.519 --> 00:29:29.640
we see God as a redeemer. A responsible hermoneutic would

517
00:29:29.640 --> 00:29:34.039
recognize the specific audience Israel and the historical context, which

518
00:29:34.119 --> 00:29:38.039
is exile and restoration, while allowing the spiritual lessons lessons

519
00:29:38.039 --> 00:29:42.839
are possibly reflections to be pulled from it, or to

520
00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:46.160
do some cross referencing, to go, okay, now, how does

521
00:29:46.200 --> 00:29:49.720
this fit to Israel? How could it possibly fit to

522
00:29:49.839 --> 00:29:53.400
us in any specific way? What are the parallels? But

523
00:29:53.480 --> 00:29:59.200
you've got to make sure you are careful with that. Now,

524
00:29:59.240 --> 00:30:01.920
just to show you how how ridiculous this is, I

525
00:30:01.960 --> 00:30:04.119
had to look this up. I had to look this

526
00:30:04.319 --> 00:30:07.559
up because I was like, I could stait here and

527
00:30:07.640 --> 00:30:10.480
start counting, but just we just listened to a sermon

528
00:30:10.519 --> 00:30:14.119
with within twenty two seconds. I'm just guessing we were

529
00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:16.599
inserted into the text, and then we kept listening and

530
00:30:16.640 --> 00:30:21.039
it was us us us you us us you, never them,

531
00:30:21.559 --> 00:30:24.920
never them, never their context. They were just completed. Now

532
00:30:24.920 --> 00:30:26.400
I'm not seeing it. At some point at the sermon,

533
00:30:26.440 --> 00:30:28.839
he may not go back to them, but immediately it's

534
00:30:28.920 --> 00:30:31.200
us us us us us. So I had to look

535
00:30:31.240 --> 00:30:35.079
it up. The names Israel and Judah are mentioned numerous

536
00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:37.319
times in the Book of Isaiah. I'm like, well, that's

537
00:30:37.400 --> 00:30:41.880
not that's not very helpful, all right, so I need more. Well, Israel.

538
00:30:41.920 --> 00:30:46.240
The term Israel specifically Israel, seems to appear about ninety

539
00:30:46.279 --> 00:30:51.920
seven times in the Book of Isaiah nine seven ninety

540
00:30:51.960 --> 00:30:56.599
seven times. But for some weird reason, that's not a

541
00:30:56.599 --> 00:31:00.400
hermeneutical clue to anybody, all right. This reflects god Uds

542
00:31:00.440 --> 00:31:04.079
address to the nation, the Northern Kingdom, and the nation

543
00:31:04.200 --> 00:31:07.759
as a whole, including the twelve tribes ninety seven times.

544
00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:10.359
The term Judah appears twenty six times in the Book

545
00:31:10.400 --> 00:31:13.359
of Isaiah. Judah refers specifically to the Southern Kingdom, which

546
00:31:13.400 --> 00:31:16.000
included Jerusalem and the tribe of Judah, to whom many

547
00:31:16.039 --> 00:31:22.559
of Isaiah's prophecies are directed. These references emphasize the distinct,

548
00:31:22.920 --> 00:31:26.480
distinct but intertwined role of Israel and Judah and Isaiah's

549
00:31:26.480 --> 00:31:32.319
prophecy with their unique circumstances regarding judgment. Excellent restoration. Right,

550
00:31:32.440 --> 00:31:36.440
So just think about this, that's direct references where Israel

551
00:31:36.440 --> 00:31:38.319
and Judah. Look at all the times, like even in

552
00:31:38.359 --> 00:31:42.440
Isaiah forty three, right, I created the the the is

553
00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:45.359
referring to Israel. If we take all the these and

554
00:31:45.440 --> 00:31:49.079
all the other references where it's clearly referencing Israel, ladies

555
00:31:49.079 --> 00:31:51.400
and gentlemen, it probably well over two hundred times, maybe

556
00:31:51.440 --> 00:31:54.880
even over three hundred times. It would be ridiculous to

557
00:31:54.960 --> 00:32:01.559
go into this book and say, hey, we're going to

558
00:32:01.680 --> 00:32:05.480
insert ourselves. We're gonna hijack the plane. We're textual hijackers.

559
00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:08.559
We're narcissistic. Why are we narcissistic because we see us

560
00:32:08.599 --> 00:32:12.559
in everything? We're textual hijackers because we take the text

561
00:32:12.759 --> 00:32:14.880
God's word and we hijack it and make it about us.

562
00:32:17.359 --> 00:32:21.160
So I was curious, so I asked Ai question. Right,

563
00:32:21.759 --> 00:32:24.279
I asked Ai question. I said, so with that many

564
00:32:24.400 --> 00:32:31.039
references going to UH, with that many references to in

565
00:32:31.240 --> 00:32:34.039
Isaiah forty three are going up to Isaiah forty three,

566
00:32:34.119 --> 00:32:36.440
if you and a sermon was then to almost immediately

567
00:32:36.440 --> 00:32:40.279
insert us into the lesson, What what do you think

568
00:32:40.319 --> 00:32:40.680
about this?

569
00:32:40.839 --> 00:32:40.960
Like?

570
00:32:41.119 --> 00:32:43.480
What? What? What? What? How should we understand? Like if

571
00:32:43.519 --> 00:32:45.680
we we see all of these references leading up to

572
00:32:45.720 --> 00:32:48.160
Isaiah forty three, and then in Isaiah forty three, we're

573
00:32:48.200 --> 00:32:50.640
preaching a sermon and we insert us into the text,

574
00:32:50.880 --> 00:32:52.799
what what how should we approach this?

575
00:32:53.759 --> 00:32:54.000
Well?

576
00:32:54.880 --> 00:32:58.160
Isaiah said this based on the textual evidence and the

577
00:32:58.279 --> 00:33:02.039
numerous references to Isaia, to Israel, and Judah throughout the

578
00:33:02.039 --> 00:33:04.920
Book of Isaiah, including Isaiah forty three, it would be

579
00:33:05.079 --> 00:33:12.839
quite problematic and even hermeneutically irresponsible to immediately insert the

580
00:33:12.920 --> 00:33:16.200
modern church or individual Christians into the passage without first

581
00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:21.279
acknowledging its clear context and primary audience. AI is like,

582
00:33:21.480 --> 00:33:24.920
that would be hermeneutically irresponsible. I'm like, but Ai, you

583
00:33:24.920 --> 00:33:27.160
don't know, you don't know us, you can't speak for

584
00:33:27.400 --> 00:33:29.640
you're not human. We know more than you know. This

585
00:33:29.720 --> 00:33:32.119
is where humans need to get out of the hermonutics business,

586
00:33:32.240 --> 00:33:35.480
because we we're trash at it, we're garbage, we are

587
00:33:35.519 --> 00:33:40.440
no good at it. But even AI's like, wait a minute,

588
00:33:40.519 --> 00:33:45.640
you can't just insert yourself here. It doesn't work. I

589
00:33:45.680 --> 00:33:50.240
love it. It's hermeneutically irresponsible. No, it's more than hermeneutically irresponsible.

590
00:33:50.440 --> 00:33:59.759
It's a crime. It's a hijacking. So then Ai gave

591
00:33:59.759 --> 00:34:03.519
me some points to supports. It gave me its assessment.

592
00:34:03.640 --> 00:34:05.680
Now it gives me points to support it. Number one

593
00:34:05.799 --> 00:34:09.199
frequent mention of Israel and Judah. Of Israel and Judah.

594
00:34:09.280 --> 00:34:11.960
The fact that Israel and Judah are mentioned nearly one

595
00:34:12.039 --> 00:34:16.039
hundred times collectively throughout Isaiah, including the context of Isaiah

596
00:34:16.079 --> 00:34:20.039
forty three, underscores the original audience was people was the

597
00:34:20.079 --> 00:34:23.440
people of Israel, specifically their historical setting. The promises in

598
00:34:23.480 --> 00:34:27.039
Isaiah forty three directly rate to God's directly relate to

599
00:34:27.079 --> 00:34:29.920
God's covenant relationship with Israel, his plan to redeem them

600
00:34:29.920 --> 00:34:33.440
from exile, and his assurance of protection and restoration. So

601
00:34:33.480 --> 00:34:38.840
it's specifically for them. Can we see some parallels? Now,

602
00:34:39.639 --> 00:34:43.840
God is my creator? Yes, he is He is my creator?

603
00:34:44.440 --> 00:34:45.440
Right do we believe that?

604
00:34:45.599 --> 00:34:45.800
Right?

605
00:34:46.440 --> 00:34:46.840
Okay?

606
00:34:47.039 --> 00:34:48.440
So right?

607
00:34:49.480 --> 00:34:53.000
Do we do believe? He has redeemed us? We are

608
00:34:53.079 --> 00:34:55.519
the redeemed. I have called thee by name, and thou

609
00:34:55.639 --> 00:34:58.199
art mine do we believe we belong to him? Yes?

610
00:34:58.360 --> 00:34:59.599
Do we believe we are the called?

611
00:35:00.039 --> 00:35:00.199
Yes?

612
00:35:00.360 --> 00:35:03.280
I can find some cross references, but clearly, first and foremost,

613
00:35:03.360 --> 00:35:06.440
this is about Israel. This is about Israel, Israel, Israel Israel.

614
00:35:06.480 --> 00:35:09.599
But if I find parallels, now here's the problem. Here's

615
00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:13.880
the danger. I should say. I can find parallels that

616
00:35:13.960 --> 00:35:17.679
I'm created, that I'm redeemed, and i am called. But

617
00:35:17.800 --> 00:35:21.280
I can't then insert myself into a text and then

618
00:35:21.320 --> 00:35:26.400
take those promises and make them about me unless those

619
00:35:26.440 --> 00:35:30.920
promises are also promised to me. Then I could draw

620
00:35:30.960 --> 00:35:37.239
the parallel. But the text over one hundred times, we

621
00:35:37.400 --> 00:35:41.280
know what it's about. So that's number one. The frequent

622
00:35:41.400 --> 00:35:43.360
mention of Israel and Judah should make you go, wait

623
00:35:43.400 --> 00:35:45.639
a minute, I can't just insert myself here. Number two

624
00:35:45.880 --> 00:35:50.639
the covenantal context. I stress this constantly. Isaiah forty three

625
00:35:50.679 --> 00:35:54.119
is steeped in Covenant theology relating to God's promises to Abraham, Moses,

626
00:35:54.159 --> 00:35:57.239
and David. These are specific promises tied to the identity

627
00:35:57.400 --> 00:36:01.559
and destiny of Israel as God's chosen people. To bypass

628
00:36:01.639 --> 00:36:05.119
this context and directly apply these promises to the Church

629
00:36:05.239 --> 00:36:08.920
would ignore the Covenant framework in which the text and

630
00:36:09.039 --> 00:36:14.400
prophecy was given. Thank you, Ah, I've been saying that

631
00:36:14.440 --> 00:36:20.639
for like fifty years and nobody listens. That Covenant context

632
00:36:20.920 --> 00:36:23.920
helps you understand. Wait, I can't just take that promise.

633
00:36:24.840 --> 00:36:27.400
I can't just pray for these things because these were

634
00:36:27.400 --> 00:36:33.199
specifically promised for Israel. How about so not only do

635
00:36:33.280 --> 00:36:36.519
we have the frequent mention of Israel and Judah number two,

636
00:36:36.559 --> 00:36:38.599
we have the covenantal context number three, we have the

637
00:36:38.719 --> 00:36:42.039
historical setting. Isaiah forty three speaks directly to the exile,

638
00:36:42.239 --> 00:36:45.960
to the exile and post exile experience of Israel. It

639
00:36:46.000 --> 00:36:49.920
promises restoration and deliverance from Babylonian captivity. The chapter's focus

640
00:36:49.960 --> 00:36:52.360
is on literal, historical deliverance for the nation of Israel.

641
00:36:52.480 --> 00:36:55.840
Applying these promises to Christians today without considering this context

642
00:36:55.920 --> 00:37:03.400
could lead to thiological confusion and done dun dunde miss application.

643
00:37:05.800 --> 00:37:08.679
Now what are the implications of this incorrect application? Well,

644
00:37:08.679 --> 00:37:12.000
it could lead to disappointment and discouragement. By immediately inserting

645
00:37:12.000 --> 00:37:14.599
ourselves or the Church into the passage, people could develop

646
00:37:14.639 --> 00:37:18.880
expectations that these specific promises lack protection from harm or

647
00:37:19.239 --> 00:37:22.719
or guaranteed deliverance. Are applicable in the same way. When

648
00:37:22.800 --> 00:37:25.559
these expectations are not met, it can lead to spiritual

649
00:37:25.559 --> 00:37:29.920
disillusionment or a misunderstanding of God's ways. Number Two, it

650
00:37:29.920 --> 00:37:33.920
would ignore Israel's unique role. Taking promises made explicitly to

651
00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:37.599
Israel implying them directly to Christians diminishes the unique relationship

652
00:37:37.679 --> 00:37:41.360
God has with Israel and overlooks the specific historical and

653
00:37:41.360 --> 00:37:44.400
prophetic role Israel plays in God's redemptive plan. The Church

654
00:37:44.480 --> 00:37:47.400
does not replace Israel, and these promises should be understood

655
00:37:47.400 --> 00:37:56.400
in light of God's faithfulness to his covenant people. Now

656
00:37:56.840 --> 00:38:00.639
I could read more, I could get in more here,

657
00:38:01.159 --> 00:38:03.519
but let's just read the text and I'll show you

658
00:38:03.880 --> 00:38:10.480
what I'm referring to. But now, thus, Saith, Now I

659
00:38:10.519 --> 00:38:12.559
do understand that when you get into these promises in

660
00:38:12.599 --> 00:38:15.480
these chapters in Isaiah, we do get into there are

661
00:38:15.519 --> 00:38:19.079
the major to me, the major hermoneutical question would be, well,

662
00:38:19.079 --> 00:38:21.920
wait a minute, now, when does this specifically apply to

663
00:38:22.000 --> 00:38:24.440
them coming out of Babylonian captivity? And when does this

664
00:38:24.519 --> 00:38:27.639
apply to some kind of restoration or deliverance that yet

665
00:38:27.800 --> 00:38:31.199
hasn't occurred. Now that is a question where we could

666
00:38:31.199 --> 00:38:35.800
have some debate, But let's just start. But now, thus

667
00:38:35.840 --> 00:38:39.079
saith the Lord that created the Oh Jacob and Hath

668
00:38:39.159 --> 00:38:42.679
formed the o Israel. Clearly, the point here of creation

669
00:38:42.880 --> 00:38:45.679
is not about creation of all things. It's not about

670
00:38:45.679 --> 00:38:49.199
creating you and me. The text is about He created them,

671
00:38:49.440 --> 00:38:55.239
He formed them Israel. God sees them as his own

672
00:38:55.320 --> 00:39:00.559
special creation. He formed them, it says, and he that

673
00:39:00.800 --> 00:39:06.840
formed the Oh Israi l Israel, he formed them.

674
00:39:07.519 --> 00:39:07.960
Fear not.

675
00:39:08.239 --> 00:39:10.719
Who's told to fear not Israel. It's not about me

676
00:39:10.800 --> 00:39:13.559
not fearing not. This is about Israel, not fearing not.

677
00:39:13.880 --> 00:39:18.639
Why I have redeemed Thee. He redeemed them. He purchased

678
00:39:18.639 --> 00:39:21.239
in a sense, them back. He bought them. He brought

679
00:39:21.320 --> 00:39:26.800
them where out of Egyptian bondage. I have called thee

680
00:39:27.360 --> 00:39:31.440
by name, Thou art mine. So what he wants Israel

681
00:39:31.480 --> 00:39:34.800
to do here is based off their current situation. He

682
00:39:34.840 --> 00:39:39.480
wants them to remember their special relationship they have with him,

683
00:39:39.880 --> 00:39:42.840
his special relationship he has with them in spite of

684
00:39:42.880 --> 00:39:48.960
their circumstances. He wants them to see these very important realities.

685
00:39:49.119 --> 00:39:53.719
There are spiritual realities which their current situation would seem

686
00:39:53.760 --> 00:39:56.920
to call into question. Now there's an application for us

687
00:39:57.360 --> 00:39:59.920
now we can see what has God said about you

688
00:40:00.159 --> 00:40:03.039
an I. Now those things God has said about you

689
00:40:03.159 --> 00:40:06.320
and I are true, even when our circumstances seem to

690
00:40:06.360 --> 00:40:10.960
indicate otherwise. Now there's application. But the key here is

691
00:40:11.159 --> 00:40:16.400
his special relationship to them. When thou passest through the

692
00:40:16.719 --> 00:40:21.079
when thou, when thou passest through the waters, I will

693
00:40:21.079 --> 00:40:23.800
be with thee and through the rivers. They shall not

694
00:40:23.880 --> 00:40:26.480
overflow thee. When thou walk us through the fire, they

695
00:40:26.480 --> 00:40:29.119
shall Thou shall not be burned, neither shall the flame

696
00:40:29.239 --> 00:40:31.639
kindle upon thee. Now we could get into it. Now

697
00:40:31.760 --> 00:40:35.280
this is a good hermoneutical uh question, have wait, is

698
00:40:35.280 --> 00:40:39.559
he promising just he's using figurative language to promise literal

699
00:40:39.639 --> 00:40:43.760
protection for them. Can't take it for us. We can't

700
00:40:43.800 --> 00:40:46.159
just immediately say, oh, I don't have to worry about this,

701
00:40:46.199 --> 00:40:50.199
and now God's going to protect me. Well, yeah, it does.

702
00:40:50.400 --> 00:40:53.840
We don't have that guarantee, do we. And if you're

703
00:40:53.880 --> 00:40:55.840
going to try to apply that guarantee with then we'd

704
00:40:55.840 --> 00:40:59.679
have to get into all the discussions about it. For

705
00:40:59.800 --> 00:41:02.320
I the Lord, thy God, the Holy One of Israel,

706
00:41:02.599 --> 00:41:07.760
thy Savior, who Savior, speaking of Israel, I gave Egypt

707
00:41:07.800 --> 00:41:14.159
for thy ransom Ethantopia, Ethiopia, and Siba for THEE. So

708
00:41:14.199 --> 00:41:16.880
he's reminding them of all the things he has done

709
00:41:17.000 --> 00:41:21.559
for them. Since thou wast precious in my sight. Who

710
00:41:21.599 --> 00:41:24.559
is precious in his sight? Israel? Thou hast been honorable,

711
00:41:24.679 --> 00:41:27.039
and I have loved THEE. Therefore will I give men

712
00:41:27.119 --> 00:41:29.519
for THEE and people for thy life. Fear not, for

713
00:41:29.599 --> 00:41:31.599
I am with THEE. I will bring thy seed from

714
00:41:31.599 --> 00:41:34.719
the west, and gather them from the east, and gather

715
00:41:34.800 --> 00:41:36.719
them from the west. I will say to the north

716
00:41:36.800 --> 00:41:39.639
give up, and to the south keep not back. Bring

717
00:41:39.679 --> 00:41:42.039
my sons from Afar, my daughters, from the ends of

718
00:41:42.079 --> 00:41:44.760
the earth. Everyone that is called by my name. I

719
00:41:44.800 --> 00:41:47.599
have created him for my glory. I have formed him. Yea,

720
00:41:47.800 --> 00:41:50.760
I have made him. This is about the regathering and

721
00:41:50.800 --> 00:41:53.199
the bringing back of Israel. Now we could ask ourselves,

722
00:41:53.280 --> 00:41:55.480
did this only apply to coming out of the Babylonian

723
00:41:55.519 --> 00:41:58.039
captivity or does this apply to a day where all

724
00:41:58.079 --> 00:42:00.280
of Israel will be regathered and get the land. Now,

725
00:42:00.280 --> 00:42:02.800
those are hermoneutical issues that you really need to get

726
00:42:02.800 --> 00:42:04.559
into when you still when you deal with the text.

727
00:42:04.639 --> 00:42:06.519
But you can't get into that if you just throw

728
00:42:06.559 --> 00:42:12.679
them out and insert ourselves. Bring forth the blind people

729
00:42:12.719 --> 00:42:15.239
that have eyes and the death that have ears. Let

730
00:42:15.280 --> 00:42:17.719
all nations be gathered together, and let the people be

731
00:42:17.760 --> 00:42:20.440
a symbol. Who among them can declare this and show

732
00:42:20.519 --> 00:42:23.119
us former things. Let them bring forth their witnesses that

733
00:42:23.199 --> 00:42:25.679
they may be justified, or let them hear and say

734
00:42:25.719 --> 00:42:28.920
it is truth. You are my witnesses, saith the Lord

735
00:42:29.039 --> 00:42:31.320
and my servants whom I have chosen, that you may

736
00:42:31.400 --> 00:42:33.920
know and believe me, and understand that I am before

737
00:42:34.480 --> 00:42:37.199
I am He. Before me, there is no God formed,

738
00:42:37.360 --> 00:42:40.239
neither shall there be after me. I even I am

739
00:42:40.320 --> 00:42:42.920
the Lord, and beside me there is no savior. I

740
00:42:42.960 --> 00:42:45.639
have declared and have saved, and I have showed when

741
00:42:45.800 --> 00:42:49.480
there was no when there was no strange God among you.

742
00:42:49.679 --> 00:42:53.039
Therefore you are my witnesses. Thus saith the Lord that

743
00:42:53.159 --> 00:42:55.760
I am God. Yay before the day, I am He.

744
00:42:56.039 --> 00:42:57.960
And there is none that can deliver. Out of my

745
00:42:58.000 --> 00:43:00.519
hand I will work and who shall let it? Basically,

746
00:43:00.679 --> 00:43:04.119
call everyone, Let everyone witness this, Let everyone see this.

747
00:43:04.320 --> 00:43:06.920
I am God. Nothing else can do what I can do.

748
00:43:07.119 --> 00:43:09.760
Nothing else can save you. Stop looking to other gods,

749
00:43:09.840 --> 00:43:13.400
stop looking to idols. I am I'm the answer and

750
00:43:13.400 --> 00:43:17.039
it's primarily first and foremost to Israel, then we could

751
00:43:17.119 --> 00:43:21.719
see how it could be possibly applicable to us. I

752
00:43:21.760 --> 00:43:23.679
know I kind of read that quickly, but you get

753
00:43:23.719 --> 00:43:27.119
the basic idea. Verse fourteen, Thus say the Lord, your Redeemer,

754
00:43:27.199 --> 00:43:30.320
the Holy One of Israel. How many different times can

755
00:43:30.400 --> 00:43:33.559
this text be telling you who it's about? For your sake,

756
00:43:34.320 --> 00:43:37.320
I have sent to Babylon and have brought down all

757
00:43:37.360 --> 00:43:40.480
their nobles and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.

758
00:43:40.639 --> 00:43:43.320
I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel,

759
00:43:43.400 --> 00:43:45.800
your King. Thus says the Lord, who maketh the way

760
00:43:45.840 --> 00:43:47.840
in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters,

761
00:43:47.920 --> 00:43:50.159
which bringeth forth the chariot and the horse. You get

762
00:43:50.159 --> 00:43:52.599
the idea, I'm the one taking care of all of this.

763
00:43:52.800 --> 00:44:00.920
I'm doing this. He's clearly connecting it to a historical situation. Now,

764
00:44:01.079 --> 00:44:03.800
you may want to find spiritual parallels, you may want

765
00:44:03.840 --> 00:44:05.800
to find us in it, but you've got to deal

766
00:44:05.800 --> 00:44:10.400
with it first with them. You can't insert us twenty

767
00:44:10.400 --> 00:44:13.679
three seconds into it. You have to go through the

768
00:44:13.719 --> 00:44:16.079
text and go, Okay, what's going on here? Like if

769
00:44:16.119 --> 00:44:17.480
we were to break if we were to break the

770
00:44:17.559 --> 00:44:21.239
chapter down and any kind of basic overview. We have

771
00:44:21.280 --> 00:44:24.760
God's assurance of protection and love Isaiah forty three one

772
00:44:24.840 --> 00:44:27.199
through seven. But this is assurance of protection of love

773
00:44:27.239 --> 00:44:30.920
to Israel. We have God's unique role as savior. This

774
00:44:30.960 --> 00:44:33.760
is Isaiah forty three eight through thirteen. But then again,

775
00:44:33.800 --> 00:44:37.480
this is about Israel. We have God's promise of deliverance

776
00:44:37.480 --> 00:44:42.199
and restoration Isaiah forty three, fourteen through twenty one. We

777
00:44:42.280 --> 00:44:47.079
have God's challenge and Israel sin Isaiah forty three, twenty

778
00:44:47.119 --> 00:44:57.920
two through twenty eight. Now you can find some parallels.

779
00:44:57.960 --> 00:45:00.519
Some of those parallels you can't find, right. I mean,

780
00:45:00.639 --> 00:45:03.880
when he starts talking about Babylon and the Chaldeans, and

781
00:45:03.880 --> 00:45:06.239
now unless you make the Babylon not Babylon, the Kaladeans

782
00:45:06.280 --> 00:45:09.760
not the unless you just start like making no, it's

783
00:45:09.880 --> 00:45:19.880
about them. And even if you insert yourself, I cannot

784
00:45:19.920 --> 00:45:22.639
state it again. You can't just immediately go to those

785
00:45:22.639 --> 00:45:26.559
promises and make them about us. That's not Bible study,

786
00:45:26.599 --> 00:45:34.119
that's not harmoneutics, that's not that's just that's preaching. Now

787
00:45:34.159 --> 00:45:36.880
I'm just gonna hit play just to see if by

788
00:45:37.039 --> 00:45:39.559
chance he circles back to Israel here. Well, I mean,

789
00:45:39.559 --> 00:45:41.840
he never really started with Israel. Let's see if he

790
00:45:41.920 --> 00:45:45.119
inserts them here, and just the next minute or two.

791
00:45:46.920 --> 00:45:51.440
He cares about me, and I know that because Jesus

792
00:45:51.480 --> 00:45:56.480
has died for me, the Holy One of Israel, your savior.

793
00:45:56.920 --> 00:46:00.159
And here we see the contrast between the transcendent and

794
00:46:00.199 --> 00:46:03.559
the imminent God. Transcendent means that which is overall and

795
00:46:03.679 --> 00:46:07.000
imminent is the things that touches us. But God is holy,

796
00:46:07.079 --> 00:46:11.360
He's wholly separate from us, and yet he is our savior.

797
00:46:11.719 --> 00:46:15.559
He cares about us, and he proves that because he says,

798
00:46:15.599 --> 00:46:19.400
I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopian Siba in your place.

799
00:46:19.639 --> 00:46:23.159
He's willing to give up all the nations to save us,

800
00:46:23.199 --> 00:46:25.039
since you were precious.

801
00:46:27.559 --> 00:46:30.119
He's willing to give up all the nations to save us.

802
00:46:37.199 --> 00:46:42.039
This is this total hijacking. You're literally listening to a

803
00:46:42.119 --> 00:46:47.039
textual hijacking in real time, and everyone sitting in that

804
00:46:47.119 --> 00:46:56.039
church things it's great. And a book where the specific

805
00:46:56.079 --> 00:46:59.599
people he's speaking to are mentioned over one hundred times.

806
00:47:00.360 --> 00:47:05.079
That doesn't matter. The old for you to fight against

807
00:47:05.159 --> 00:47:10.119
all the textual clues here seems it seems insurmountable, like

808
00:47:10.159 --> 00:47:14.480
how could I But because the we just insert ourselves.

809
00:47:15.760 --> 00:47:21.519
We're textual hijackers. You want to hear just a couple more,

810
00:47:22.280 --> 00:47:23.360
just a little bit more.

811
00:47:24.679 --> 00:47:27.599
In my sight. Now, of course it's a Hebrew word.

812
00:47:27.639 --> 00:47:30.480
We could talk about that, but just meditate about what

813
00:47:30.519 --> 00:47:34.639
he just said in English. You are precious in my sight.

814
00:47:35.280 --> 00:47:41.039
You know, some people have something that's precious to them. Avocado.

815
00:47:41.320 --> 00:47:44.800
Everybody here who likes avocado, raise your hand. Everybody here

816
00:47:44.840 --> 00:47:47.519
who hates avocado, raise your hand. So we have some

817
00:47:47.559 --> 00:47:50.360
people who think of avocado as precious and others who

818
00:47:50.360 --> 00:47:53.679
are like, yeah, I could do without, you know, you know,

819
00:47:54.039 --> 00:47:57.360
but that's just food. And yet people get all excited

820
00:47:57.400 --> 00:48:04.440
about about New York cheesecake or Philly cheese steaks or avocado.

821
00:48:05.199 --> 00:48:07.920
And God looks at us, and he looks at us,

822
00:48:07.960 --> 00:48:12.199
and he says that we are precious in his sight.

823
00:48:14.880 --> 00:48:20.639
Do you get the idea The name of the sermon

824
00:48:20.760 --> 00:48:24.400
is we are precious in his sight, not that Israel

825
00:48:24.480 --> 00:48:27.599
is precious in his sight. That we we come to

826
00:48:27.639 --> 00:48:30.360
a text where God is telling someone else. It's like

827
00:48:30.559 --> 00:48:35.840
you hijacking a love letter and then responding back to

828
00:48:35.920 --> 00:48:38.440
the person who wrote it and go, oh, thank you,

829
00:48:39.199 --> 00:48:41.639
I love the things you said. About me, and the

830
00:48:41.679 --> 00:48:43.400
author is like, what are you talking about? I wasn't

831
00:48:43.400 --> 00:48:46.000
talking about you. Oh you said that I was precious,

832
00:48:46.039 --> 00:48:48.360
and you said that you loved me, and you said

833
00:48:48.360 --> 00:48:51.320
that you will protect me. Oh what are you talking about?

834
00:48:51.360 --> 00:48:54.360
I was writing it to my girlfriend or this. No, no,

835
00:48:54.360 --> 00:49:01.320
no no. We just insert ourselves. We just assert ourselves.

836
00:49:03.239 --> 00:49:05.840
That's what we do. We open the Bible like me.

837
00:49:06.480 --> 00:49:11.039
We open the Bible me, We open the me. Us.

838
00:49:11.360 --> 00:49:18.920
We them? Who cares about them? They're old news. God

839
00:49:19.079 --> 00:49:25.039
was writing about me because I'm a narcissistic textual hijacker.

840
00:49:26.280 --> 00:49:36.840
That is what Christianity is, narcissistic textual hijackers. We fit

841
00:49:36.920 --> 00:49:42.320
in really well, don't we. We do because we like

842
00:49:42.400 --> 00:49:49.599
everything to be about us. Thanks for listening, God bless