Participants: David Asscherick, James Rafferty, Jeffrey Rosario, Ty Gibson
Series Code: TT
Program Code: TT000019
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00:01 [Music]
00:11 [Music] 00:20 --As we continue this conversation about righteousness 00:23 by faith, we've been, in the last two sessions, talking a lot 00:25 about the sin problem, and we've defined it in really relational 00:30 terms, which has been a blessing to me. 00:32 --Totally. 00:33 --But now, we just need to continue the story and we're 00:35 shifting the weight of our emphasis and our conversation 00:38 from the fallenness, the sinfulness of man, to the 00:42 righteousness of God, but that has a backdrop. 00:45 There's a rich history that leads into the realization of 00:50 the righteousness of God in Christ, but there's a backdrop 00:53 here. 00:55 -Well, I love the fact, Ty, that you're using the word there, 00:57 transition because, in my way of thinking, that's exactly where 01:00 we're at. 01:01 We've sort of told the story from Genesis 1 up through 11, 01:05 which is, you know, Genesis 1 and 2 is the creation, 3 to 11 01:07 is the fall of man. 01:09 Then we started telling the Abrahamic story, you know, this 01:12 beautiful story, these various encounters where God is 01:14 progressively revealing himself to Abram, the called out one. 01:19 --That was Genesis 12 to 22, basically. 01:21 --Right, 12 to 22, exactly, and that's, yeah, exactly, 22 is 01:24 Mount Moriah, and that's where I still kind of am in my brain. 01:26 Now, we've spent the last 2 sessions unpacking the depth and 01:31 darkness and, without Christ, despair of the sin problem, 01:36 right? 01:38 Which, to me, that's all Genesis 22, because, remember, there 01:40 goes the knife, Abraham's about ready to do his thing. 01:44 God stays the hand and points and says, there's a ram caught 01:49 in the thicket. 01:50 God himself has provided. 01:52 There's so much here, right? 01:54 But this idea that God is going to do something. 01:57 You mentioned we're transitioning away from the, 02:00 into the righteousness of God. 02:02 And what we see here, then, is that God is going to do a thing. 02:06 It's consistent with the thing in Genesis 3, where they're 02:08 making of the coats of skins, and you know, being wounded on 02:12 the heel, it's consistent with the promise there, what's the 02:16 other one I'm thinking about, the anticipation of the death of 02:20 Messiah. 02:22 I can't even think of it. 02:23 --In Genesis? 02:24 --Yeah, it's in Genesis right there early on, it's just 02:25 slipping my brain. 02:27 Yeah, I said that one. 02:28 --3:15, then the coats of skin in verse, like, 21, 22. 02:32 --Oh, I know what I was thinking of, the severing of the animals. 02:34 --Oh, yeah, in Genesis 15. 02:35 --Genesis 15 where they cut the animals. 02:38 So, here we see it again, that there's going to be some death 02:43 that will come, and it's gonna be something that God is doing. 02:46 God is going to do this thing, and so, as we progress through, 02:50 now we're at Abraham, right? 02:53 And then we talk about the descendants of Abraham, 02:55 etcetera, and there's a fascinating idea that in much of 02:58 the rest of the Old Testament, in particular, though also in 03:01 some degree in the New Testament, God is so identified 03:05 with this man and his descendants that he actually, 03:08 let this sink in, the sovereign of the universe, the infinite, 03:11 inimitable, eternal God of the universe is called by the name 03:17 of Abraham. 03:20 He refers to himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 03:25 He's so identified. 03:26 --He so identifies 03:27 --In association with this man. 03:28 --That's amazing 03:30 --It becomes normative. 03:31 This is the God we're dealing with. 03:33 Which God are we talking about, are we talking about? 03:34 No, no, no, this is the God of Abraham. 03:36 Oh. 03:37 And he calls himself that. 03:38 --Which translates in the minds of the people who hear that 03:43 term, for Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is 03:47 basically code for all that history. 03:50 --That's right. 03:52 --All that history, let that be triggered in your thinking. 03:54 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God of covenant and 03:58 promise and power and follow through and faithfulness. 04:02 --I can't think of a better verse that epitomizes that than 04:05 Genesis 22 verse 8, Abraham is asked by his son, where's the 04:10 sacrifice? 04:11 And Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for 04:16 a burnt offering. 04:17 So this is the essence of Abraham's faith, of his belief 04:21 in God and it's witnessed to his son, it's shared with others, 04:27 and this is why I think God is identifying himself as the God 04:31 of Abraham. 04:32 --We have mentioned before, I think you are exactly right, we 04:34 have mentioned before how the sort of landscape or the 04:36 architecture of Genesis is skewed heavily toward the family 04:41 of Abraham. 04:42 You know, the first little bit is like 11 chapters is say, 04:45 2,000 years in round figures of history, and then the last 39 04:48 chapters is like 200 years. 04:50 It's like a 10 to 1 ratio. 04:51 So, you have this, you know, slowing down when you get to 12 04:58 all the way to 50. 04:59 Then the rest of the writing of Moses is really telling the 05:03 story of Abraham and his descendants and then the nation 05:06 that grows out of that, and these are the covenant people of 05:10 God, Israel. 05:11 --Even just beyond the writings of Moses, the rest of the 05:13 prophets all the way throughout the Old Testament. 05:15 And you were saying how you can see these little hints. 05:18 In Genesis 3, there's the promise of the 2 lineages, then 05:23 there's the clothing them with the skins, then there's Abraham, 05:28 so all of these hints, and then when you get to Israel, God 05:33 basically systematizes this whole idea that God will 05:36 provide. 05:37 Then you get this whole concept of the sanctuary. 05:41 So Israel, all the way from Moses, all the way through to 05:43 the end of the Old Testament is the long story, the messy and 05:48 bumpy story of this people who are supposed to contain those 05:53 very promises of God, or what's a better word? 05:55 Preserve those promises of God, and they have, in their own 06:00 culture, in their very culture, they have a system in place, as 06:04 constant reminders through different symbols of the fact 06:09 that this is what God has done, this is what God is going to do, 06:14 and the purpose of your existence is to give other 06:17 people access to that promise and that history. 06:20 --When you say other people, who do you mean? 06:22 --I mean the Gentiles, the rest of the world. 06:23 --That's the point I was gonna make. 06:24 --So, it's more than preserving, it's disseminating. 06:26 --Yeah. 06:27 --Preservation for the sake and purpose of... 06:30 --Dissemination. 06:31 --Exactly. 06:33 --The salvation of the Jews as Jesus said to the Samaritans. 06:35 --I've got a text on that. 06:37 --I was gonna quote you, let me quote you to you. 06:38 --Okay. 06:39 --Can I do that? 06:40 I loved it when you said, God called them out to send them in. 06:43 --There's a text for that that I think is really crucial. 06:46 So, you kinda moved us very quickly, in both of your sets of 06:51 comments, from Abraham in chapter 22 of Genesis into the 06:56 formation of Israel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the formation of 07:01 Israel as a nation, you mentioned the sanctuary, which 07:04 was specifically a system that was created to keep the covenant 07:10 that God had made with Israel in mind, and watch this, they come 07:13 out of Egyptian bondage and we come to chapter 19 of Exodus, 07:18 alright? 07:20 And before the 10 commandments are given, in chapter 20 of 07:24 Exodus, God tells Israel, through Moses, what his whole 07:28 plan and purpose is. 07:30 Chapter 19, verse 4, you have seen what I did to the Egyptians 07:34 and now how I bore you, how I bore you on... 07:37 --I'm sorry, you're in chapter 19, verse 4, got it. 07:40 --Bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself, and so, 07:47 God is saying to them here, I pulled you out. 07:51 --It's very paternal. 07:52 --It's very paternal. 07:53 And I'm caring for you, I'm taking care of you, I'm 07:56 surrounding you with my influence and my blessing and 08:01 God tells them, in chapter 19, and you guys help me find the 08:05 verse that follows up on that one, in chapter 19, he says, 08:09 somewhere here, and I called you out basically, to make you a 08:12 kingdom of priests. 08:14 Where is that, in chapter 19? 08:15 --Well, first of all, in verse 5, you don't wanna skip over 08:17 that, you look through that verse, and I'll read verse 5. 08:19 Now, therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my 08:23 covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me of all 08:27 the people, for all the earth is mine. 08:30 In other words, I want you to be a treasure because all the earth 08:35 is mine, and I want all the earth to be blessed. 08:39 --I wasn't seeing it, but read verse 6 also, James. 08:41 --No, go ahead. 08:42 --In verse 6, and you shall be, to me, a kingdom of priests and 08:47 a holy nation. 08:49 This is extremely important because what is a priest? 08:51 --Someone who stands between. 08:53 --It's a mediator, it's someone who is a conduit, it's somebody 08:57 who's a channel through which something is to come. 08:59 Our minds immediately go back to what? 09:03 Chapter 12 of Genesis where the covenant is originally formed. 09:08 I'm gonna make you a blessing to all the world, to all the 09:11 nations, and God says how I'm gonna do that is through you, 09:14 you're going to be a kingdom of priests, a kingdom of mediators, 09:19 a kingdom of individuals as a nation who will be a conduit 09:23 through which the knowledge of my love, my covenant, my 09:27 faithfulness will be made through the world. 09:29 --I love that, now, with your permission, I wanna just rewind 09:32 very slightly to Exodus 2. 09:36 In other words, I'm 100% with that...Thanks James 09:39 Look at Exodus 2. 09:41 This begins to tap into what Jeffrey just called the what? 09:43 Messy, bumpy story? 09:46 Well, the story gets messy and bumpy, I mean, immediately, 09:48 right after, out of the gate, it's messy and bumpy, and so, 09:51 here we have the descendants of Abraham in Egyptian slavery, 09:56 right? 09:57 And look at verse 24, Exodus 2:24, so God heard their 10:00 groaning, the slaves, Israel are slaves now, they're in bondage 10:04 to Egypt, and God remembered his covenant. 10:08 Now, watch this, with Abraham, Isaac, and with Jacob, now this 10:10 is in Exodus 2, remember Moses is writing this as a continuous 10:14 narrative. 10:15 It's a continuous story. 10:17 So, he ends Genesis chapter 50, which is the death of Joseph, 10:21 right? 10:23 And then, as he just begins to write the next book, the book of 10:24 Exodus, how does it start? 10:26 Well, where else would it start? 10:27 It starts with the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 10:29 who've ended up in Egyptian slavery, and God remembers the 10:32 covenant, the agreement, that he made with Abraham, with Isaac, 10:35 and with Jacob. 10:36 And here's, to me, the most fascinating thing. 10:39 The very next two chapters, chapter 3 and 4 of Exodus, God 10:44 appears to Moses in a burning bush and he says, go tell 10:47 Pharaoh to what? 10:49 Let my son go. 10:51 --Singular. 10:52 --That's right. 10:53 My firstborn. 10:55 But he is seeing, and by the way, there are two primary 10:57 figures in the Old Testament that are the son of God. 11:00 The two primary figures in the Old Testament that are the son 11:02 of God, number one, we just read, is Israel, the other is 11:04 Adam. 11:06 These are the sons of God. 11:08 This'll have huge implications when we get to the New 11:09 Testament, and Jesus is referred to as the son of God. 11:12 But for our purposes here, it's like God is saying, hey, that's 11:15 my boy. 11:17 Get my boy out of there because I have an arrangement with him, 11:20 I have an agreement with him, I have a covenant with him, so 11:23 then, Ty takes us to 19 and God brings the children of Israel, 11:27 and you know, we know this story, most of us, of the 11:29 plagues, right, if we haven't read the bible story, we saw the 11:31 movie, who was it that did the 10 commandments movie? 11:34 --Charlton Heston. 11:35 --Charlton Heston. 11:36 So, you get through there, and here we are in 19, 11:38 and God says I'm going to establish my covenant with you. 11:42 And you were exactly right, Jeffrey, when you said, or you, 11:45 I think it was you, Ty, somebody said, when that language is 11:48 used, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that's code for, 11:52 --that was you, --a whole history that's going on here. 11:55 So, the Israelites, this is not happening in a vacuum. 11:58 They know good and well who this God, oh, oh, this is the God of 12:01 Abraham. 12:03 We know who Abraham and Isaac is, we know who Jacob is, and 12:05 God says, I'll make my covenant with you, and you will be what I 12:08 originally intentioned for Abraham, 12:11 you'll be a kingdom of priests. 12:13 --You know what I love? 12:14 I love this word in here, remembered. 12:15 I have a little doohickey on my app, iPhone that is To Do, it's 12:21 To Do lists, and Siri helps me to remember things, and the only 12:25 reason I need to remember anything is for one purpose 12:29 to do it. 12:31 Once I've done it, I click a little button and it's on the 12:33 done list. 12:34 --I love that idea. 12:35 --There's great satisfaction. 12:38 But when it's on the remember list, it's 12:39 because I need to do it. 12:41 So, when it says God remembered, what that means is, there's 12:44 something he needs to do, and I love this because, in the 12:48 context of what we've talked about with our natures, for 12:51 example, when I first came to God, I came out of a situation 12:55 where I struggled with being able to accomplish anything. 12:59 In relation to what we've talked about, for example, my mom was 13:03 in AA, my dad was a heavy drinker, alcoholic for a while. 13:07 My grandma was an alcoholic, she actually had a wet brain, she 13:09 had to have a certain amount of alcohol every day. 13:11 My aunt was an alcoholic. 13:13 --I've never heard that term before, wet brain. 13:14 --Yeah, my aunt died of an, she was a closet alcoholic, and she 13:17 died of an accident wherein she was, you know, drinking. 13:22 And my grandfather owned a pub in Ireland, I mean, it was all 13:25 through my family, and I went in that same direction. 13:27 --It was genetic for you. 13:28 --Yeah, Irish. 13:29 And so, I remember in my early years, teenage years, getting so 13:34 involved in alcohol, it was my comfort, you know, it was my 13:38 comfort, it's what I turned to. 13:40 And I remember many times trying to quit, trying to quit, trying 13:45 to quit, I'm gonna stop, I'm gonna stop, I'm gonna stop. 13:47 Having bets with my friends, just, and wanting to quit. 13:50 --Promising yourself, promising God. 13:52 --Promising, promising, and knowing that God wanted 13:54 something better for me, being raised a Catholic and praying 13:57 every night whether I was drunk or sober, but never being able 14:00 to accomplish it. 14:01 And I remember coming to God, I was on my knees and I remember 14:04 understanding that I believe God wanted something better for me, 14:09 but I couldn't do it, and I remember saying to him, I can't, 14:12 if you want me to be a Christian and stop drinking, you're going 14:15 to have to do this, because I can't do this. 14:17 And it was that expectation, I got off my knees, and I thought, 14:21 God is going to do something, because I can't do this. 14:26 It was that expectation that brought me this whole different 14:29 picture of the gospel and righteousness by faith. 14:32 --Can I ask you a question? 14:33 At that point, because I don't know your journey as well as I 14:36 wish I did, at that point, you were not very biblically 14:39 literate? 14:40 --Not at all. 14:41 I knew the Lord's Prayer, I said a Hail Mary, I said those 14:42 prayers every night, I was raised in a religious system, 14:45 but not really in a relationship with Jesus Christ. 14:48 --You were an altar boy, weren't you? 14:49 --I was an altar boy. 14:50 So, went to a religious school. 14:53 --You know what I love, love, love about that story, apart 14:55 from the fact that it's a beautiful story of deliverance, 14:57 I love the fact that you were already, and I think the first 15:00 time I heard you tell this story, you actually used this 15:02 language, you said, you didn't even know the language, but you 15:07 were already praying a new covenant prayer. 15:09 --Yeah, didn't even know the language, didn't even understand 15:11 the gospel, but I was experiencing and understanding 15:13 what that gospel looked like in reality. 15:17 It was my utter hopelessness and helplessness and my utter 15:20 dependence on Christ and an expectation that he was gonna do 15:23 something for me that I couldn't so for myself. 15:25 --Now, here is the amazing thing, thank you for sharing 15:28 that, James, and by the way, we know that we have people 15:30 listening in on this conversation who are wrestling 15:33 with a variety of things, I mean, we wrestle with things, 15:36 alcohol in particular and other, we live in an addictive society 15:40 and an addictive world, and just knowing that there is a God who 15:46 has your best interest in mind, who's looking out for you and 15:48 who can do this thing, but here's the thing I love, apart 15:52 from just the beauty of the story itself, is that, that ties 15:54 in exactly with where we are in Exodus 19, because God shows up, 15:59 we've read down to verse 6, now, just watch this. 16:01 Verse 7, because I wonder if some people are listening in and 16:03 saying, new covenant thinking, what's that? 16:05 Listen to this, 7, so Moses came and called for the elders of the 16:08 people, laid before them all the words which the Lord had 16:12 commanded him, now, watch this, verse 8, then all the people 16:16 answered together and said, all that the Lord has spoken, 16:20 we will do. 16:23 That is not, that was your prayer until you realized. 16:25 --That was me, through and through, old covenant, old 16:27 covenant. 16:28 --How long did that take, that process for you? 16:29 Like, when you were like, I wanna stop, I wanna stop, I'm 16:30 gonna stop, betting with your friends, I mean, is that a year, 16:32 is that more than a year? 16:34 --It was more than a year, because we did it two or three 16:37 times for several months at a time, so it was more than a 16:40 year. 16:41 --So, it was a long struggle. 16:42 --It was over a couple years at least. 16:44 --So, you literally lived the wilderness experience. 16:49 Because that's what's gonna happen here, they'll say, oh, 16:50 yeah, we'll do that, and then that's not gonna, and then 16:53 they're, we'll do that, they don't do it, we'll do that, 16:55 --Exactly. 16:56 we'll do that. we'll do that. 16:57 If that, one year before I accepted Christ, my mom sent me 16:59 a bible and I started reading it, and I started reading John 17:01 chapter 1, and by the time I got to the end of that chapter, I 17:04 couldn't even understand or remember what I'd read at the 17:06 beginning. 17:07 I was totally biblically illiterate. 17:10 I couldn't understand the bible, and yet, I experienced this new 17:13 covenant experience. 17:15 God was working in me as he's working in every single human 17:18 being on planet earth to bring them to this good news, this 17:20 revelation of who he is, but sometimes, it has to get very 17:24 dark, and that's what it was in my life, before he can bring us 17:28 to this understanding, this full understanding. 17:31 --It's a very similar experience to what I had, as you know, 17:34 James, and you guys know as well, I was also raised in an 17:37 alcoholic home, and also drug addiction, and my experience was 17:44 slightly different, but the same exact principles at work. 17:51 I didn't even question the use of alcohol or drugs because it 17:57 was always around and I grew up with it and you know, I had a 18:03 brother that was born, fetal alcohol syndrome, 18:07 he was born addicted to alcohol. 18:10 My mother was also in AA, but check this out, my experience 18:13 was a little bit different, but it's the same exact experience 18:16 on another level, and that is that I never questioned it, I 18:20 just kept doing it. 18:21 From literally, from the fifth grade on, using drugs nearly 18:25 every day of my life, and then, with no promises, no effort to 18:31 ever stop doing it, with no intentions of ever stopping 18:34 doing it, I saw, in my mind, I don't mean with my eyes, I saw 18:40 the beauty of the character of God, in a very elementary sense 18:45 at that beginning stage, but I, it was so overwhelming to me 18:49 that, immediately, the next day, I woke up and all the desire and 18:55 interest for that stuff was gone, and I still had it in my 18:59 possession. 19:00 I still had, you know, another part of the story, I still had 19:04 it for sale, and people were coming to my house, and I was 19:08 saying, well, no, no. 19:11 It was God. 19:12 I had no interest, no desire, no struggle, nothing. 19:16 the beauty of the character of God, literally, overnight, 19:20 eclipsed all interest in those types of things, well, that 19:25 specifically, and it was gone. 19:27 I didn't know the language, new covenant, faith, all I knew was 19:32 a very, very elementary picture of God's love and how that it 19:37 was good and that it was faithful and that he would 19:41 follow through. 19:42 And that was it, liberation overnight. 19:44 --I know we have to take a break here, but the story that you 19:48 just told and the story that you just told Ty and James, is what 19:50 we ended our last conversation on, remember, the parable of 19:53 Jesus in what is it, Luke 11. 19:54 We have the one guy who's got all of his doctrinal, 19:57 theological ducks in a row, but he's a jerk. 20:01 He's despising other people, and then you have the other person, 20:03 apparently, no theological awareness, he's not a Pharisee, 20:06 he's not, and he's got it right. 20:08 Because all he knows, what does he know? 20:09 He knows two things, that God is approachable, and that he is a 20:13 sinner. 20:16 --Well, we're off to a really good start in this first segment 20:18 and... 20:19 --I got a great point when we come back. 20:21 --We'll just take a break and come back and keep pursuing 20:23 this. 20:26 [Music] 20:36 Want a seat at the table? 20:38 Well, you're certainly invited. 20:40 Visit our website at lightbearers.org. 20:43 In fact, you may wanna make it your homepage because we're 20:46 always adding something new to strengthen your relationship 20:49 with Jesus. 20:51 At lightbearers.org, you'll find thought-provoking blogs and 20:54 verse-by-verse bible studies on a variety of vital topics. 21:00 Our online resource center has an excellent lineup of books, 21:03 CDs, and DVDs that present God's word with clarity and power. 21:11 Our presenters include, Jeffery Rosario, James Rafferty, 21:15 David Asscherick, Ty Gibson, and more. 21:20 We also maintain an archive of audio and video messages you can 21:23 access free of charge. 21:26 Feel free to listen online, or download to your computer, 21:29 tablet, or smartphone. 21:32 Under events, you'll discover locations and dates where 21:34 ministry events will be held throughout the year. 21:37 We'd love to see you. 21:40 If you've felt a personal call to ministry, our Arise school 21:42 will help get you going. 21:45 We have training programs that vary from nine days to 13 weeks. 21:50 Click on the learn more link for more details about each program. 21:55 Stay up to date with the latest sermons, media, news, and events 21:59 by subscribing to our monthly newsletter. 22:02 If you'd like to help us continue producing gospel 22:04 resources, please donate using our convenient and secure web 22:08 page, and receive a tax deductible receipt. 22:12 We're here to serve and equip you in sharing your passion for 22:16 Christ and the global advancement of his benevolent 22:19 kingdom. 22:21 Lightbearers.org. 22:23 There's room at the Light Bearers table for you. 22:31 [Music] 22:37 --Hey, David, right at the end of segment one, you said there 22:40 was something specific that you wanted to get immediately into? 22:42 --Well, just a thought that I had, I loved when James, you 22:46 were telling your story, and empathizing with yours as well, 22:49 about the drug experience and the alcohol experience, well, 22:52 alcohol with you, and you said something that was so profound 22:55 and I wanna bring the impression that that had on me back to the 23:00 experience of Abraham. 23:02 You said God has to bring us sometimes to a dark place, and I 23:05 was thinking man, that's exactly what happened with Abraham, 23:07 because, when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram 23:10 and behold, a horror and great darkness fell upon him. 23:14 Before the announcement of the good news, you know, God's in 23:17 the midst of making this covenant, but Abraham has to 23:19 feel the darkness of his circumstance and his situation 23:22 before he's gonna appreciate the beauty of covenant, the beauty 23:25 of what God is doing. 23:27 --You know what's really interesting, David, about this 23:29 whole story, at least for me it is, one of the goals in my life 23:34 up until I was 21 years of age had to do with certain worldly 23:39 expectations that involved exciting new vistas, like, for 23:43 example, when I turned 15 and a half, I got a driving permit, 23:46 when I turned 16, I got my driver's license, when I turned 23:48 19, I was legally old enough to drink in Idaho, which was 30 23:52 minutes from where I lived in Spokane, Washington. 23:54 But when I turned 21, oh, when I turned 21, I was legal to drink 23:59 anywhere, and that's, that is the year that I accepted Christ 24:03 as my savior, because when I hit 21, and I was now legal to drink 24:07 anywhere and I could do whatever I wanted basically and I wasn't 24:10 dependent on other people to buy alcohol for me, which I had been 24:13 up to that time, it dawned on me. 24:16 --It felt like freedom. 24:18 --Yeah, but it dawned on me that all of the stuff that I was 24:19 pursuing was absolutely empty and worthless. 24:23 It was the excitement of being able to do something that was 24:27 illegal for me to do, but once I realized the freedom of being 24:33 able to do that, there was nothing left. 24:36 --Yeah, where do you go from here? 24:38 --And so, and I remember, Ty was talking about how, the change 24:42 that took place, one day, I'm selling, the next day, what am I 24:45 doing with this stuff? 24:47 And I remember one day, someone knocked on my door, this is 24:49 after I became a Christian, I went to the door, and there was 24:51 a young man standing there that I knew, he used to party with us 24:53 and he was underage, and he said, hey, he said, can you buy 24:58 us some alcohol, you know, because I'm 21 now, been 21 for 25:01 a little while, and I said, you know what, and it was really 25:05 strange because I couldn't even relate to him asking me that, it 25:10 was like, I had to, it took me a few seconds to get my bearings. 25:15 What? 25:16 Oh, yeah, that's right, that's the way it used to be, isn't it? 25:20 I just looked at him and said, you know what? 25:22 I don't do that anymore. 25:25 And he wasn't mad or upset or anything. 25:27 He was, like, looking at me like, huh? 25:31 You don't do that anymore? 25:33 No frame of reference whatsoever, and I just. 25:36 Praise God, that is such good news, and I'll tell you what. 25:40 --Beautiful. 25:41 --Six weeks after I became a Christian, 6 weeks, I was, it 25:44 was fear and trembling for me. 25:46 I thought, is this real? 25:48 Is this really gonna hold? 25:50 Is this experience really gonna hold? 25:53 Am I, is this reality? 25:56 Because it had just never happened before. 25:59 --I was 23, so we were all, I think, young, how old were you, 26:05 Jeffrey? 26:06 --Seventeen. 26:07 --Oh, we were kids. 26:08 You were about the same, 17? 26:09 --Seventeen, 18, I began thinking about spiritual things 26:11 right before my 18th birthday and then it all just came in 26:15 like a flood when I was 18. 26:17 --And it's amazing how, with all of us, and I'm sure that many of 26:20 our viewers can relate to this, people listening into the 26:21 conversation, though, maybe not all, it was like, night and day. 26:25 I mean, I was like a purple haired punk rocker and then I 26:27 was a believer. 26:29 It was just like a switch. 26:30 Like you said, you woke up the next day, what is this stuff 26:33 doing in my house? 26:34 It was just a switch. 26:36 --And it's funny because I didn't have any theological 26:38 understanding of the bible, but I had friends, many friends, who 26:42 started coming to church with me, just because of the 26:44 difference they saw in that, that night and day difference, 26:47 just because of that experience, and that's what I'm thinking 26:49 we're seeing here. 26:51 It's not just the theological understanding of God and, 26:56 it's the character, it's the life, it's the 26:58 change that the gospel makes, that God makes in our lives 27:03 that is tangible, that people see and that they want, they're 27:06 longing for, relationship, love, that whole experience. 27:10 --Well, that's kind of also part of how we ended the last 27:12 presentation about how God had called Abraham for the purpose 27:17 of making him a light to be a blessing, and you, all the 27:20 families of the earth will be blessed. 27:22 They will see something, not just that your doctrinal, you 27:25 know, i's are dotted and t's are crossed, no, but there'll be 27:28 something about you as a person, your relationships, familial and 27:32 friends and the way you conduct business and the way that you 27:34 handle your finances, there'll be something about you that will 27:37 be inherently and beautifully attractive. 27:42 --It's noticeable. 27:43 --It'll be noticeable. 27:44 Something different, which, by the way, that's what the word 27:45 holy means. 27:48 We just have this idea of holiness, and I know many of our 27:51 listeners, the moment you say holy, I mean, I don't know what 27:54 comes to your mind. 27:55 Glow in the dark, or a little halo over the head or whatever. 27:57 Holy means, other. 28:00 Just different. 28:02 God is holy, he's different. 28:03 He's not like us, he's a different kind of being. 28:06 He's righteous, he keeps his word, etcetera, and when 28:09 Abraham would be holy, when he would be righteous, he would be 28:12 different. 28:14 Called out, set apart, not like what's going on in Babylon. 28:16 --Set apart, that's the word I always remember for holy. 28:19 Set apart. 28:20 --Sanctified, different. 28:22 --There's a key word that we keep bringing up in a lot of the 28:26 conversations and that word is covenant. 28:31 Let me just try to build, let me just show a thread here, and 28:34 kinda back up, rewind, and then go forward again, because we're 28:37 in this story. 28:39 So, you back up to Genesis 15, we have the 5 animals that were 28:46 brought by Abraham to the Lord, the Lord commanded him to bring 28:49 these 5 animals, severe 3 of them in half, pass between the 28:53 pieces, the Lord passed through the pieces, and then it says, in 28:57 verse 18, we've already told that story, so we won't go into 29:00 details, verse 18, on that same day, the Lord made a covenant 29:04 with Abraham. 29:05 Okay, that's the idea. 29:06 Then we were in Exodus and we saw, in chapter 19, well, 29:11 actually, back in chapter 2, and then again in 19, that God is 29:15 remembering his what, covenant with the people, and he has now 29:21 defined them in terms of covenant, they are my covenant 29:25 people, and the covenant is the thing that he wants conveyed, 29:31 communicated to the world. 29:33 So, you're a kingdom of priests, you're a kingdom of 29:35 communicators. 29:37 Your words, your deeds, the way you live, the nature of our 29:41 relationship is to witness to the world, you're my covenant 29:45 people. 29:46 Well, the prophets, now, we're reading Moses, but all the 29:50 prophets after this begin to formulate a deeper and higher 29:55 and more nuanced detailed picture of the covenant 29:59 and what this looks like, okay? 30:01 So, for example, when we come to Isaiah, the prophet Isaiah, the 30:06 language that is used, and I'm gonna skip to 3 texts here and 30:10 just jump in at any point if you like because this'll take a 30:14 couple minutes, but just look really quickly at chapter 54, 30:20 verse 10, 54, verse 10. 30:23 Isaiah 54:10, for the mountains shall depart and the hills be 30:27 removed, but my kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall 30:34 my covenant of peace be removed, the word kindness there is the 30:39 word Hasid, we've all heard of Hasidic Jews, for example, it's 30:44 an order of believers in Judaism that are fascinated with the 30:51 study of the concept of Hasid. 30:54 Hasid is the basis for covenant in this text, okay? 30:59 What is Hasid? 31:00 Hasid is basically is the Old Testament word that is used more 31:05 times than any other Old Testament word to describe God's 31:08 identity, God's character, who God is. 31:12 And it's in the context of covenant. 31:14 My kindness shall not depart. 31:16 There's stability here. 31:18 My Hasid, my love, some versions translate it kindness, other 31:22 versions translate it, my faithful love. 31:25 Other versions, my mercy. 31:27 Okay, but it's connected with covenant. 31:30 Okay, look at chapter 55, next chapter, and verse 3. 31:35 Incline your ear to me, and come and hear and your soul shall 31:39 live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you. 31:46 Notice the covenant here is everlasting. 31:48 It's eternal, it's reliable and changeless, and what is that 31:52 covenant? 31:53 My version, New King James Version, it says, the sure 31:56 mercies of David, and the punctuation they use here is 32:00 very interesting. 32:01 It's an in-dash, which basically operates in grammar as an 32:05 equivalency. 32:06 So, the covenant, the everlasting covenant equals, it 32:10 is the sure mercies of David. 32:13 Another version translates sure mercies as my faithful love 32:19 promised to David, and the word, again, is Hasid. 32:23 --So, his covenant is everlasting because he is 32:26 everlasting. 32:28 So, God's covenant, God's fidelity, reflects his own 32:32 nature. 32:33 --Yes, of course. 32:35 --So, because he's everlasting, then his commitment and his 32:37 promises to us are also everlasting because they would 32:40 be of the same nature as God himself is. 32:44 --And what I'm trying to get at here is that the key word in the 32:49 Old Testament, the Hebrew scriptures that defines the 32:53 nature of God's relationship with his people is the word 32:56 covenant. 32:58 That word is connected intimately throughout scripture, 33:01 and I'm just giving a couple of examples with this idea of 33:03 faithful love, this idea of kindness, this idea of unbroken, 33:10 unswerving fidelity. 33:13 Okay, that's what the covenant looks like in action. 33:15 In other words, the word covenant can be translated in 33:18 our thinking simply and profoundly like this, I am a God 33:22 of covenant, you are the people of my covenant, I am promising 33:26 to changelessly, everlastingly, eternally be faithful to you. 33:32 That's the idea, and so when we speak of the righteousness of 33:35 God, we're speaking of the internal consistency of God's 33:39 character to follow through, to make promises and keep those 33:42 promises. 33:43 --And on what basis do the people have, what basis do the 33:47 people have to have confidence in anything that this God says, 33:51 so, if I make you a promise, my word, your confidence in my word 33:56 depends on my track record, right, on my track record. 34:00 So, if I'm known to be a liar, and I ask you to let me borrow 34:04 50 bucks, I promise I'll pay you back next week when I get my 34:06 paycheck. 34:08 Well, if I've asked you the same thing 5 times, 10 times before 34:10 and I've ripped you off, you have no basis to have confidence 34:13 in my promise, right, so, it's implicit in God's promises that 34:19 he's expecting people to have confidence in his promises 34:23 because of his track record, and I think that's one of the 34:25 significant reasons why the covenant is always based on what 34:30 God has done in the past, so, I am the God who brought you out 34:33 of Egypt. 34:34 So, why is he bringing up the things he's done in the past? 34:38 --Track record. 34:39 --Because he's expecting us to evaluate what he's saying and 34:43 what he's promising on the basis of what he's done already in the 34:47 past. 34:48 So, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 34:51 Why do successive generations need to know that this God is 34:56 associated with these historical figures in their history? 35:01 They need to know that because it's on that basis that they 35:04 will hang their confidence in what God is saying. 35:09 In two texts, really quick. 35:10 Were you done in Isaiah? 35:12 --I said I had three, but you go ahead, I'm coming back to 35:14 Isaiah. 35:15 --I'll just quote it really quick, just to strengthen that 35:21 point there, is, in Titus chapter 1, verse 2, it says that 35:24 God cannot lie, not that he doesn't like to, but he can't. 35:29 --Plus he doesn't like to. 35:31 --Plus he doesn't like to, and in Hebrews, is it, 6, I think 35:37 verse 22 or something, it says that it is impossible for God to 35:40 lie. 35:41 --Which couldn't be said of you or me. 35:44 --Now, we can try not to lie, we can choose not to lie, but God 35:49 cannot lie, and I think he expects us to have confidence in 35:53 that, on the basis of what he's already done, and I think that's 35:57 why the Old Testament is so thick and maybe the New 35:59 Testament is so thin, because the Old Testament is the basis 36:02 for the New, and the New Testament fills this Old 36:06 Testament with activity and intervention in human history so 36:10 that when the New Testament comes into the picture, it's all 36:13 based on everything God has already done. 36:15 --And there's something more in the Old Testament that I think 36:17 is exemplified in the word in the King James, mercy. 36:20 And that is, not only is the covenant based on the fact that 36:23 God has a faithful track record, that he's faithful, but it's 36:26 also based on the fact that he's merciful. 36:30 Now, mercy implies the imperfection of the object upon 36:34 which it is bestowed. 36:36 The whole Old Testament is replete, even with Abraham and 36:38 Sarah, who, Abraham's lying about Sarah, she's not my wife, 36:42 she's my sister, again, she's not my wife, she's my sister, 36:45 the Old Testament is replete with a history of people who 36:50 just fail God, fail God, fail God. 36:51 So, not only do we need a God who's faithful, but we also need 36:54 a God who is merciful. 36:56 We need, and notice this, in the context of these promises that 37:00 are given that Ty pointed out, he's kind, he's merciful, it 37:03 says in verse 5, behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou 37:09 knowest not, these are people that don't know you, and you 37:12 don't know them, and nations that knew not thee shall run 37:16 unto thee because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of 37:20 Israel, for he hath glorified thee. 37:23 In other words, they're seeing a God who is faithful to a people 37:26 who are unfaithful. 37:27 --What chapter was that? 37:28 --That's Isaiah 55. 37:29 --So, they're being attracted to God because of the way God is 37:31 relating to his own people. 37:34 --Who are unfaithful. 37:35 --So, right. 37:36 People that are not part of God's people are being drawn to 37:41 God because of an observation on how a faithful God is treating 37:47 unfaithful people. 37:48 --They might even be saying in their minds, boy, our gods 37:50 aren't like that, Moloch, Ishtar, Baal. 37:52 --And we might be saying in our minds, boy, we wanna be faithful 37:55 to God and we wanna put up a good front and we wanna make 37:57 sure when people see us, they see people who are really 38:00 righteous and really holy, but no, they're seeing the reality 38:05 of who we are and in that context, they're seeing a 38:08 faithful God and they're seeing it. 38:10 That's what we're hanging our helpless souls on. 38:13 And what that does is, it frees us, it just frees us. 38:16 We are captive. 38:17 It's like this, we are captives, it's captive. 38:24 Here it is, there's Ty, there's David, there's Jeffrey, 38:30 and there's James. 38:33 --I'm glad you put yourself in there. 38:34 --We're captive. 38:35 And what happens is, is we are captive, we can't get out, God, 38:39 the word of God, this is, by the way, the bible, the New 38:41 Testament, this is the entire New Testament right here. 38:43 In this little thing, which, by the way, David can read this, 38:47 David can read this. 38:49 --With his spectacles. 38:50 --No, without them. 38:52 --The word of God comes into our captivity, not to stay in here 38:56 with us, but he comes into that captivity to release us, I'm not 39:01 gonna be able to get the other side. 39:02 --You've been waiting to do this. 39:05 --This is quite the object lesson. 39:07 --Boom, and set us free, and I love this because now we're 39:11 free, and other people are saying, whoa, whoa, wait a 39:15 minute, those, what kind of God is this? 39:19 That's released James from alcoholism? 39:21 That's released Ty from dealing drugs? 39:22 That has taken young people at the very height of their youth 39:28 and energy and life is ahead of them and has drawn them to just 39:31 give all of that to God. 39:33 Not when they're at the end of their lives, but right there in 39:35 the youth of their lives, just give it all to God. 39:40 --Ty, I think we're getting ready to take a break, but did 39:41 you have a third verse? 39:42 When we come back to this third verse you had. 39:44 --We should come back to the third verse, because the third 39:46 verse launches us into New Testament fulfillment of the 39:52 promise, so let's do that when we come back, we don't have time 39:54 now. 39:55 You're gonna read that thing 39:57 --You like reading it, don't you? 39:59 --I do. 40:00 --You like the fact that you can read it. 40:04 --I think you're showing off. 40:06 --I want you to, because if this, if life continues on, if 40:13 time continues on, and 10 years goes by and we're doing this 40:17 table talk. 40:18 --I won't be able to read it. 40:19 --I will bring that out. 40:22 --Okay, break, Ok, break, 40:23 [Music] 40:34 Truth is not merely a list of theological facts, but rather 40:36 the revelation of God's beautiful love in Jesus Christ 40:40 Truth link is a series of Bible Study Guides that magnify 40:44 God's love as the center of every bible doctrine. 40:47 To receive your free copy of lesson 1 call 877-585-1111, 40:54 or write to Light Bearers, 37457 Jasper Lowell Road, 40:59 Jasper, Oregon 97438. 41:02 Once again, to receive your free copy of Truth link lesson 1, 41:06 call 877-585-1111, or write to Light Bearers, 41:13 37457 Jasper Lowell Road, Jasper, Oregon 97438. 41:18 [Music] 41:22 --I have to say, my excitement level is really high and the 41:25 reason why is because do you guys realize that we haven't 41:30 even cracked into the New Testament, and we are just being 41:35 enriched with gospel concepts? 41:38 --So, the gospel's in the Old Testament just as much. 41:40 --The Old Testament is saturated with the gospel. 41:45 --It's the foundation work. 41:47 --Yeah, there could be no New Testament, there could be no New 41:49 Testament gospel without the back story of the Old Testament, 41:54 and this common notion of dispensationalism that makes the 41:57 sharp segregation between Old and New Testament, as if God was 42:01 actually into saving people by one means back then, but now 42:06 he's into saving people by another means in the New 42:09 Testament era, it's just not there. 42:12 --There's an integration. 42:13 --Yeah, there's a complete integration between the two. 42:17 --Now, Ty, I'm sitting on the edge of my seat, as I'm sure 42:19 some of our viewers are here. 42:21 You said you had 2 texts for us in Isaiah, you said you had 3, 42:23 we went to 54:10, 55:3, and where are we going? 42:28 --Well, it's not in order, but that's on purpose, then go back 42:32 to chapter 42 of Isaiah. 42:36 This is one of the high points of scripture, because the point 42:37 that I was making, I don't know if you guys remember this, but 42:40 the point was that once God calls Abraham out and then he 42:45 forms his people Israel, they are the covenant people, all the 42:49 prophets forward from there, and I'm just looking at Isaiah as an 42:52 example. 42:54 All the prophets are basically enlarging and filling in the 42:57 details of the covenant and what it will look like in action. 43:01 God's covenant promises taking on all these beautiful, rich 43:04 hues and features, and it's building a picture. 43:09 So, when we come to Isaiah, for example. 43:12 --And I loved when you connected it, and maybe that's the point 43:13 you're gonna make now, with the Hasid thing. 43:16 In these two passages, 54:10 and 55:3, the covenant was tied 43:19 intimately. 43:21 --Yeah, Hasid is, as I was pointing out, the most 43:26 frequently used word in the Old Testament to describe God's 43:29 identity, his character, and it is repeatedly connected with the 43:33 idea of covenant, righteousness, mercy, justice, that's the key 43:37 word that is multidimensional, that takes in the enormity of 43:42 God's faithful love for Israel, and ultimately, for the human 43:46 race. 43:48 --And you told me something I didn't even know, and I looked 43:50 it up and you were right, that this branch of Judaism called 43:54 the Hasidic Jews call themselves that, now just let this sink in, 43:57 because they're studying this as their understanding of the 44:01 centerpiece, Hasid as the centerpiece of what it means to 44:08 understand and be a follower of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and 44:11 Jacob. 44:12 That's central. 44:14 --They basically are studying the fact that God is love in an 44:18 Old Testament setting. 44:20 --Let me just use an illustration real quick to 44:22 answer that question, but I call myself an Adventist, right? 44:25 I am an Adventist, that's the kind of Christian that I am, and 44:28 that mean, demarcates, or denotes that I believe that the 44:33 advent is absolutely central, the first coming of Jesus and 44:36 the return of Jesus to scripture. 44:39 --So your name indicates a part of your belief system. 44:41 --Exactly, so, it's awesome that their name, the name that they 44:44 have chosen, whether they're getting it right or wrong, to 44:47 me, is beside the point. 44:48 They're saying, hey, this is the thing. 44:50 This is the thing about which our religion revolves, and of 44:54 course, a great many of them are getting it right. 44:56 I mean, they may not yet know about Messiah, which is, we're 44:58 gonna talk about that in the future, but I just love the idea 45:00 and that was new to me, Ty, that. 45:03 --Well, for example, there's an author that we're all familiar 45:07 with and love and that's Abraham Joshua Heshell, himself a Jew, 45:13 he's a Hebrew scholar, and actually, he's deceased, but his 45:19 whole line of thinking is also based on the idea that God's 45:24 Hasid is the love of God taking the initiative toward human 45:31 beings, and his entire theological and philosophical 45:35 outlook is based on the idea that God takes the initiative to 45:40 pursue others. 45:42 For example, one of his books is called God in search of man, and 45:45 it's a deliberate, you know, the title itself is deliberately 45:48 turning the normal human idea. 45:52 --I found God. 45:54 --We're pursuing God, he's playing hard to get, he's 45:56 playing hide and seek, we've gotta turn on the effort, but 46:01 Abraham Joshua Heshell in this Hasidic Jewish trajectory is 46:07 basically saying, no, no, we've got it all wrong, you wouldn't 46:10 even have a thirst or a hunger for God if he wasn't pursuing 46:12 you. 46:14 --I'd like to say that there's no parable in the bible of a 46:16 sheep looking for a shepherd. 46:18 --That's right, it's the shepherd pursuing the sheep. 46:20 --That is actually, that's funny and it's true, that is a 46:23 legitimate atheistic critique, that's a legitimate critique of 46:27 much of religion by our atheist friends is saying, well, is God, 46:31 is he hiding? 46:33 Yeah, I heard a joke saying, have you found Jesus and then 46:35 the person says, well, I didn't know he was lost. 46:37 And they're being kinda cheeky and kinda funny, but the point 46:39 is, is that, that is to turn the whole thing upside down, right 46:44 side up is that God is in search of man, and you see it back in 46:46 Genesis 3. 46:47 God comes looking for Adam. 46:49 We're the ones that are fleeing. 46:50 And I love the point that we made, I don't know if it was in 46:52 this session, the conversations are starting to blur together 46:54 for me, but that one of the most popular places, it's a game of 46:57 hide and seek, and one of the most popular places for people 47:00 to hide from God is in religion. 47:03 --Oh, that was in session number 3 in program number 4. 47:06 And it was about 5 minutes in, 5 minutes, 30 seconds in. 47:10 --Yeah, I can't believe that you're accurate on that, there's 47:13 no way if it is all running together. 47:15 But you want the third on in Isaiah? 47:16 --I want the third one, bring it. 47:17 --Okay, the third one in Isaiah that breaks down this subject is 47:21 chapter 42 of Isaiah, starting with verse 1. 47:24 Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my elect on in whom my 47:29 soul delights, I have put my spirit upon him, he will bring 47:33 forth justice to the Gentiles. 47:35 So, just pause at that verse. 47:37 Here is a prophecy of the coming Messiah, of Jesus, but he's not 47:43 called Jesus here, he's called my servant, which is language 47:47 that specifically refers to Israel, in the singular. 47:51 David had brought our attention to the fact that in Exodus, 47:54 Israel is my son, singular, it's a corporate body, it's a group 47:58 of people, but it's the same concept in the New Testament of 48:01 the body of Christ, singular, okay, so Israel is God's son, 48:07 Israel is God's servant, but this is Israel, this is the 48:10 servant who's going to be coming and he's going to be doing 48:13 something. 48:14 What is he going to be doing? 48:15 He's gonna bring forth justice to the Gentiles. 48:18 That doesn't mean that he's going to execute justice on the 48:21 Gentiles, he's going to do the right thing for the wide world 48:28 of Gentiles. 48:29 --Abrahamic promise right there. 48:30 --Which was the original intention for calling Abraham. 48:32 --That's right. 48:34 We have to keep the narrative in mind and keep the story in view. 48:38 We need to keep looping back in order to go forward. 48:40 --And we actually are doing that in our life, back to forward. 48:43 --So, like you're saying, Jeffrey, we loop back 48:45 immediately, with this language, to Genesis 12. 48:48 I'm going to bless you, Abraham, but not because I am playing 48:53 favorites, I'm gonna bless you so that through you, all the 48:56 nations of the earth can be blessed. 48:59 But then, Israel did become separatist, did become elitist, 49:04 and then, what happens? 49:07 God says, but I'm going to follow through. 49:10 I'm going to send my servant, who's going to follow through to 49:14 bring justice to the Gentiles. 49:17 To do the right thing, to bring the knowledge of my love, my 49:22 faithfulness, even to them. 49:24 Well, then, check this out, he's described this savior, this 49:28 Messiah who's coming, is described and in verse 3, a 49:32 bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he 49:36 not quench, that's pretty strange language, but 49:39 essentially, it's saying he will be super sensitive to broken, 49:42 wounded people, he'll be tender, and then the key verse is verse 49:45 6, verse 6 says, I the Lord have called you in righteousness, 49:52 this is God the Father speaking to the Son, the Messiah who's 49:54 coming, and will hold thine hand, and keep you, and give you 50:00 as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles. 50:05 Isn't that incredible? 50:07 --What about that bit about I will hold your hand? 50:09 --That's beautiful, isn't it? 50:12 So, that indicates that the Messiah, the servant is going to 50:14 go through some ordeal, he is going to need to be sustained 50:19 and comforted. 50:20 That goes back to what we've been talking about, that there's 50:22 going to be a wounding, there's going to be a fatal wound, in 50:25 fact, there's going to be a suffering, I'm gonna hold your 50:28 hand. 50:29 --And keep you. 50:30 --And Keep you yeah I'm going sustain you, but check this 50:32 out, I'm gonna give you as a covenant to the people. 50:37 But here's the part that we're not even noticing, okay? 50:41 For the Gentiles, to this point, Israel and much of, the covenant 50:47 is just for Israel. 50:49 It's not for the Gentiles. 50:51 No, no, no. 50:52 Here, it clearly says, the covenant encompasses the whole 50:55 world. 50:57 There's a sense in which God always intended for the entire 51:00 human race to constitute Israel. 51:03 --And look at verse 7. 51:05 --Okay, before you go to verse 7, can you go back, just very 51:07 briefly, look at verse, look at the language that's used in 51:11 verse 4 and 5, he will not fail nor be discouraged 'til he has 51:15 established justice where? 51:17 In the earth, and the coastlands, which is basically 51:20 their way of saying, the far distant, they'll wait for his 51:23 law. 51:24 Now, look at this, 5, thus says the Lord who created the 51:26 heavens, who stretched them out, who spread forth the earth, and 51:29 that which comes from it, who gives breath to the people on 51:32 it, and spirit to those who walk on it, I will. 51:35 It's always universal, it's universality. 51:37 --Inclusiveness. 51:38 --God called Abraham out to send him back in. 51:41 --And then verse 7, to open the blind eyes and bring out the 51:44 prisoners out of darkness. 51:47 So, he's releasing. 51:50 --That caught me by surprise. 51:51 --Every time he does that, it scares the death out of me. 51:53 --We're captive, and he's releasing us. 51:56 Now, you know, of course we know the Jews are captive, we know 52:00 God's people are captive, we say that in the context of the fact 52:02 that we're all in the same condition, but this verse is 52:05 explicit, concerning those who are in darkness. 52:09 So, this is specifically talking about the Gentiles in the 52:11 context. 52:12 It's specifically talking about the rest of the world. 52:14 In fact, when Jesus quoted this verse and applied it to the 52:17 Jews, they were indignant. 52:19 They wanted to throw him off a cliff. 52:20 We're not in darkness. 52:22 So, we know, that in the thinking of the day, and in the 52:25 thinking of our day, we don't see ourselves, as Christians, we 52:27 don't see ourselves as in darkness and need to be 52:29 released. 52:30 So, Jesus came to release everyone. 52:32 --The Jew and Gentile alike, which is what you read in 52:34 Romans, Jew and the Greek, the Jew and the Greek, the Jew and 52:36 the Greek. 52:37 --I just wanted to ask something real quick. 52:38 So, basically, what we're trying to say in this text is that he 52:39 will give you as a covenant. 52:41 Going back to what we said several conversations earlier 52:44 that God is not a means to some other end, he is the end 52:48 himself. 52:49 Right? 52:51 So, the Messiah won't bring a covenant. 52:54 Because we keep saying the covenant of God, the covenant of 52:56 God, distinguishing God from covenant, and what this is 53:01 bringing out is, though that is also true, it's even better than 53:05 that, it's not that God has a covenant, but that God is the 53:10 covenant. 53:11 --That is certainly true in a sense, but the covenant is the, 53:13 it's not either or, it's both. 53:15 And the thing, yeah, let me just speak to this issue a little 53:18 bit. 53:20 I think it kind of answers your question, I was gonna raise one 53:22 contextual point that I think is important. 53:25 We're sitting here as believers in Christ. 53:28 Christian, Christian, Christian, Christian. 53:30 Followers of Jesus here, many of our viewers are followers of 53:31 Jesus or are considering becoming. 53:33 We're reading here in the Old Testament, and it says servant, 53:36 and we're saying, that's Jesus, and that's Jesus, and that's 53:38 Jesus, and that's Jesus. 53:40 To be fair to the context in which Isaiah was right, we know 53:43 that. 53:45 We know how the story ends, but Isaiah is writing as if, right? 53:50 In other words, he writes with the hope and the belief and the 53:55 expectation of what could be, should Israel, national Israel, 53:59 fulfill her God-given, Abrahamic destiny. 54:02 He knows that that won't happen, right, but he writes as if this 54:06 is what could happen. 54:07 Well, actually, it is going to happen, but in a really awesome 54:10 way. 54:12 And Israelites will come and will absolutely be faithful and 54:17 keep covenant. 54:18 --Harkening all the way back to Genesis 3:15, the seed, 54:21 singular. 54:22 --Yes. 54:23 --There's someone coming. 54:24 --Exactly. 54:25 When we go back to, you know, like you said, looping back, 54:28 when we go back to Deuteronomy, that's the last book of Moses. 54:32 You have Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. 54:34 Deuteronomy closes, chapters, what is it, 27, 28, 29, 30, the 54:38 last chapters of Deuteronomy close with what is sometimes 54:41 called the covenant curses and blessings, where God essentially 54:46 says, in the same way that he said, in the day that you eat of 54:50 that tree, you will die. 54:52 Right, not I will kill you, but you will die. 54:54 He essentially says, okay, we've got this covenant established, 54:56 and if you abide by the principles of this covenant, if 54:59 you live this life that I have here described for you and we've 55:02 carved out. 55:03 This what will happen, blessing, blessing, blessing, blessing, 55:05 blessing, as a natural consequence of living in harmony 55:08 with the way that God has set up the universe. 55:10 If, however, you don't, this, this, this, this, this, this 55:15 will be a consequence. 55:16 Not so much an active punishment, but this is what 55:19 will happen, by virtue of you living outside of the way that I 55:22 have created the universe to run, right? 55:25 So, then, much of the history after that, so you go from 55:26 Deuteronomy and then you have the rest of the Old Testament, 55:29 which is the major prophets, the history books, the Psalms, 55:31 etcetera, is not entirely, but it's largely the story of 55:35 covenantal unfaithfulness. 55:38 Not on God's part, God never, one time was unfaithful as God, 55:43 never once. 55:45 But you have this unfaithfulness, unfaithfulness, 55:46 unfaithfulness, unfaithfulness, so that there was this, I mean, 55:51 we can talk about how, what ends up happening, you have the 55:53 exile, and a variety of captivities, you know, the 55:56 fragmentation, the splitting into the 10 and the 2, the 55:59 tribes, and by the time we get down into Isaiah, Jeremiah, 56:02 Daniel, we are into a very dark, very bleak picture of Israel, 56:08 which was brimming with potential and possibility and 56:12 now, they're fragmented, they're scattered, they're shattered, 56:16 they're, I mean, they are not only not what God called them to 56:20 be, they are, scripture says, in several places, you just 56:23 preached on this, the Gentiles are looking, saying, you 56:27 remember this verse in the bible where it says that they make a 56:28 hissing sound, you remember that? 56:30 Several times, the Gentiles, they just hiss, they, just. 56:35 --They're dismissive. 56:36 --Perfectly dismissive. 56:38 Oh, you're the chosen people of God? 56:39 --Yeah, right. 56:41 --Yeah, okay, how'd that work out for you, right? 56:43 But there's always this longing, this hope that the one will 56:47 come, someone will come who will set the thing right. 56:51 Isaiah's writing with this hope, this longing. 56:54 --And that must've been heartbreaking for God himself, 56:56 because the original intent was he wanted to bless the Gentiles, 57:00 and now the Gentiles are looking in, saying, if that's what it's 57:02 about, no thank you. 57:04 --What does it look like to set things right, though, David? 57:07 To set things right according to the Isaiah 42 prophecy and many 57:10 others in Isaiah and many passages of the Old Testament, 57:13 to set things right is to establish faithfulness to all of 57:17 humanity. 57:19 --To bring justice to the earth. 57:21 --Yeah, that's right. 57:22 It's basically to say that God is faithful to Abraham, Isaac, 57:28 Jacob, to Israel, but God is faithful to the whole human race 57:32 and Israel is merely the vehicle for bringing that knowledge to 57:36 the human race. 57:38 --I love that, and can I say one thing? 57:40 And God knew all along that even though Israel was part of God's 57:45 solution, that Israel itself was part of the larger problem of 57:49 humanity. 57:50 The problem is that Israel themselves did not recognize it. 57:54 --They lost sight of that. 57:55 --So, here you have the means that God is using to reach out 57:57 to the larger world, his covenant people is itself part 58:01 of the problem, but God, and I love this language, commits 58:04 himself to the process. 58:06 Israel is blind, they don't see it, all that the Lord has 58:08 spoken, we will do, we will be faithful, and unfaithfulness, 58:10 unfaithfulness. 58:11 --In sickness and in health. 58:12 --Yeah, it is, well, it's a marriage covenant, isn't it? 58:15 --It's amazing, really, because you just mentioned a thought 58:18 there and that is, is that Israel was blind and in this 58:22 verse, it's really interesting what God says, he says, these 58:26 guys are all blind, they don't see, they need to be released, 58:28 but then he says, but I'm blind, too. 58:32 I'm blind. 58:33 God is blind, but he's blind in a different way than we're 58:36 blind. 58:38 The verses that I'm thinking about are in Isaiah 42 verses 58:42 18 and 19. 58:45 --You got about 20 seconds. 58:46 --That you may see, who is blind but my servant of death is my 58:50 messenger that I sent, who is blind that he is perfect and 58:53 blind is the Lord's servant. 58:55 --Blind in what sense? 58:57 --Blind to our sins. 58:59 --To our failures. 59:01 --And on that very note, which is a very positive note, we're 59:04 done. 59:05 [Music] |
Revised 2014-12-17