Hello, I'm Jill Morikone,
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and thank you for joining us
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for this edition
of 3ABN Worship Hour.
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Our title today is
How Big is Your God?
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Are you abandoned and
need a Faithful Father?
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Are you sick and
need a Heavenly Healer?
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Are you stuck in sin and
need a sympathizing Savior?
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Are you lonely and
need a Forever Friend?
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Are you sad and need a
Compassionate Comforter?
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Are you broken and
need a Loving Lord?
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Are you afraid and
need a Sovereign Shepherd?
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Do you feel you are unreachable,
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unredeemable,
unlovable, unwantable?
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Who is your God today?
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Do you know Him?
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How big is your God?
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Have you experienced Him?
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Turn with me to
Isaiah chapter 40.
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This is our opening scripture
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before we go to
the Lord in prayer.
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We are spending the
balance of this entire message
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How Big is Your God,
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based on Isaiah chapter 40.
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So turn with me to Isaiah 40.
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We're gonna look
at verses 25 and 26.
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Isaiah 40:25-26.
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"To whom then
will you liken Me,"
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this is Jesus
talking, the Lord God.
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"To whom will you liken me?
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Or to whom will I be equal?
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Says the Holy One.
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Lift up your eyes on high,
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and see who has
created these things,
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Who brings out
their host by number,
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He calls them all by name,
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by the greatness of His might
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and the strength of His
power, not one is missing."
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Let's pray.
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Holy Father, we come
before You in the name of Jesus.
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This is Your time.
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This is Your Word.
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And would You speak?
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Would You make it
come alive to us right now?
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I ask for the
infilling of Your Holy Spirit,
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that You would touch me
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and You would
touch the ears and hearts
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of each person listening
and watching right now,
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that we could be
changed in the knowledge
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of who You are.
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In Jesus' name.
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Amen.
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It was June 2007,
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a hit and run
incident left Daniel paralyzed
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from the waist down.
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A year after his
accident, he wrote this.
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I would call it
simply a lament to God.
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"Oh, Lord, my God, why
do You wait to show up?
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I cried out to You
when trouble struck.
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I asked You for restoration.
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I know that You heard me.
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I know that You
answered, yet nothing,
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nothing of meaning
happens again today.
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Infinitesimal
changes dog my days.
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I am hounded by the
prayers of the fickle
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looking to me to
prove their faith.
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Wearily, I drag on
tiring of the waste,
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hating the horror,
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the pain, the suffering,
the never-ending trial.
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The endless story
drags on, and on, and on.
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When will the clouds break?
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When will the night cease?
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When will the tunnel end?
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When will You smile again, God?
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What a two-edged
sword Your voice is.
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You speak.
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And then wait?
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You give hope, and
then vanish into the mist?
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Have You forgotten me?
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Have more important
things absorbed Your attention?
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Hope turns black,
this evil I have seen.
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Nightly, my dreams
they show me restored.
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And yet in the
morning I am broken again.
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Please slay me, blot my name
from the ranks of the living.
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From the grave I
can finally rest.
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How long?
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How long must I
wait here in the middle,
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suspended
between heaven and hell,
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between healing and horror?
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Who am I that God
should remember me?
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My only salvation is that
He will not forget His image
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or let His Word be broken.
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There is nothing I can do.
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But one day I by His promise,
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I will stand
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restored as His
message of hope is fulfilled.
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The Lord will turn this
horror into a fading dream
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and I will honor
His name forever."
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I don't know if that reminds you
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of any stories
in the Word of God.
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It reminds me of David.
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Remember him?
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Hunted,
haunted, hiding from Saul
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as he sought his
life crying out to God,
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"Where are You?
Why haven't You come?
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Why aren't You helping me?"
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I think of Job,
stricken, afflicted,
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boils covered head to toe,
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lost his children,
lost his possession.
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His wife said,
"Just give up on God."
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Saying, "God, where are
You in the midst of my horror?"
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I think of Jesus on the
cross crying out saying,
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"My God, My God, why?
Why have You forsaken Me?"
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I think of the
children of Israel,
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in Babylonian
captivity, crying out to God,
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"When is our
deliverance going to happen?"
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If you have lived
any length of time,
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you will have experienced
some sort of mental anguish,
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some sort of physical anguish,
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or maybe it's spiritual
anguish in your walk with God,
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or even emotional anguish.
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And if you have not
already experienced that,
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then you will at
some point in your life.
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The children of Israel,
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crying out to God in
their Babylonian captivity.
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That's where Isaiah
chapter 40 actually picks up,
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is right at the end of
that Babylonian captivity.
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Before we get to Isaiah 40,
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let's just lay a
little groundwork.
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Who is Isaiah?
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Probably one of the
greatest biblical prophets
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in the Word of God,
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he is one of my
personal favorites.
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He's known as
the gospel prophet.
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Why?
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Because there is so
many Messianic prophecies,
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there's so much of the gospel,
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there's so much of
justification by faith,
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there's so much of
looking forward to Christ,
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the coming Messiah that we find
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within the pages
of the book of Isaiah.
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His name, of
course, means the Lord saves
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or salvation of Yahweh.
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And it's a fitting
name for this book,
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which is really divided
into two different sections.
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We have section number one,
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which is chapter
one through chapter 39.
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This is the historical section.
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This is the narrative.
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This is the section
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we call the book of
judgment and salvation.
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This is what happened
during the time Isaiah lived.
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Then we jump over here
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and we have the
second section of the book.
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This is chapters
40 through chapter 66.
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This is the prophetic section.
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This happened a
century and a half after
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Isaiah even walked this earth,
it's after he passed away,
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this section happened.
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And this is a
section of comfort,
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the section of restoration.
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In fact, these
sections are so disparate
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that some people say,
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"Well, two different people
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must have written
the book of Isaiah."
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But if you look at
the scrolls in the Qumran,
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you can see there is no division
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between chapter 39 and 40.
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You can see that
the same person, Isaiah,
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authored the entire book,
one part being historical,
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the other part over
here being prophetic.
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The historical portion
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is really two different sections
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in that as well.
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You see, Isaiah prophesied
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during a time of
great national crisis
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for the people of Judah.
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Remember that Israel
used to be one United Nation
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that's under Saul,
that's under David,
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that's under his son Solomon.
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And then when Solomon's
son came to the throne,
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the children of
Israel had had enough.
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Solomon had
really taxed the people
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and there was a lot of heaviness
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for the people and they said,
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"We're done with you.
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Are you going to treat
us like your daddy did?
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And if you're
not going to treat us
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like your daddy did, we're done.
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We're doing our own thing."
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And what did his son say?
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"Well, my father
chastised you this way,
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but I'm going to be even worse."
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So the kingdom
split at that time.
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Ten tribes stayed
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with the northern
kingdom of Israel,
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two tribes, the
larger of the two,
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of course, being Judah would
be with this southern kingdom.
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So in the time of Isaiah,
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we had this first
major national crisis,
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the northern kingdom of Israel,
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combined with the
neighboring kingdom
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of Assyria,
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and they came on the warpath
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against the
southern kingdom of Judah.
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Now Ahaz was the
king at this time.
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You can find this
in Isaiah chapter 7.
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It's about 734 BC,
and Isaiah is the prophet,
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Ahaz is the king.
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And Ahaz is terrified
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and he wants to reach
out to Assyria for help.
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He says, "I can't do this."
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And Isaiah says,
"No, trust in the Lord.
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He will deliver you
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no matter what
you're going through,
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no matter what it looks like.
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The neighboring
kingdoms are coming against you,
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God will deliver you."
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But Ahaz chose
not to trust in God.
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He chose to turn his back on God
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and go his own way.
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And he reached out
to Assyria for help.
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We fast forward
several years to Ahaz's son.
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Ahaz is dead now
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and his son
Hezekiah is on the throne,
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or about 701 BC.
00:10:06.67\00:10:09.07
And Hezekiah
says, "You know what,"
00:10:09.10\00:10:12.01
he says,
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"I'm no longer going to
pay this tribute to Assyria.
00:10:13.41\00:10:15.38
We're done with that,
00:10:15.41\00:10:16.75
we're going to
trust in the Lord."
00:10:16.78\00:10:18.11
And so he refuses
to send the tribute
00:10:18.15\00:10:19.48
and all of a sudden,
the Assyrians now come,
00:10:19.51\00:10:21.82
and they attack the
tiny nation of Judah
00:10:21.85\00:10:23.99
and they take one city
after the next after the next.
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And then they come to Jerusalem
and begin to siege Jerusalem
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and Isaiah is still
the prophet and he says,
00:10:32.23\00:10:34.10
"Trust in the Lord. The
Lord will fight for you.
00:10:34.13\00:10:36.87
The Lord will
defend you. Trust in Him."
00:10:36.90\00:10:40.14
And Hezekiah chooses
00:10:40.17\00:10:41.80
to pour out his soul before God.
00:10:41.84\00:10:45.21
He chooses to trust in God.
00:10:45.24\00:10:47.74
And guess what happens?
00:10:47.78\00:10:49.11
God kills 185,000
of those Assyrians
00:10:49.14\00:10:54.05
in one night,
00:10:54.08\00:10:55.42
that's Sennacherib's
entire army is destroyed.
00:10:55.45\00:10:58.02
God shows up and
God defends His people.
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Now that is all
00:11:00.36\00:11:01.69
in the beginning part of Isaiah,
00:11:01.72\00:11:03.06
that's all in
chapters 1 through 39.
00:11:03.09\00:11:05.33
Then we jump to chapter 40.
00:11:05.36\00:11:07.20
This fast
forwards, you could say,
00:11:07.23\00:11:10.23
this is the prophetic portion,
00:11:10.27\00:11:11.63
this is what
we're looking at now,
00:11:11.67\00:11:13.74
100 years after that siege,
00:11:13.77\00:11:15.34
100 years after God showed
up and delivered the people
00:11:15.37\00:11:19.31
from this Assyrian
siege, the Babylonians come,
00:11:19.34\00:11:22.64
and the Babylonians take them.
00:11:22.68\00:11:24.21
Remember Daniel
and his three friends
00:11:24.25\00:11:25.75
take them into captivity.
00:11:25.78\00:11:27.88
They are in
captivity for 70 years,
00:11:27.92\00:11:30.59
70 years in bondage,
00:11:30.62\00:11:32.15
70 years away
from their homeland
00:11:32.19\00:11:34.52
and away from their people
00:11:34.56\00:11:36.69
and maybe even feeling
as if God has forsaken them.
00:11:36.73\00:11:40.70
And at the end of that 70 years,
00:11:40.73\00:11:42.90
God promises to bring
them back again to their land
00:11:42.93\00:11:46.23
and to restore all those years
that the locusts had eaten,
00:11:46.27\00:11:50.44
that's what we see in Isaiah 40.
00:11:50.47\00:11:52.64
Isaiah 40, we
see the mercy of God.
00:11:52.67\00:11:55.11
God wants to save His people.
00:11:55.14\00:11:56.85
They're in Babylonian captivity,
00:11:56.88\00:11:58.48
but He wants to save them,
and He wants to deliver them.
00:11:58.51\00:12:01.58
We see the power of God,
00:12:01.62\00:12:03.42
God is able to deliver
them because He is powerful.
00:12:03.45\00:12:07.72
He can deliver
them from their enemies,
00:12:07.76\00:12:09.42
which would be the Babylonians
'cause they are in captivity.
00:12:09.46\00:12:12.56
He can deliver them from
the gods of their enemies
00:12:12.59\00:12:15.10
and the Babylonian gods
00:12:15.13\00:12:16.46
that the Babylonians worshipped.
00:12:16.50\00:12:18.23
The main argument in
Isaiah 40 is that God can do it,
00:12:18.27\00:12:21.94
He can make the
second Exodus happen,
00:12:21.97\00:12:24.34
that would be this deliverance
from Babylonian captivity.
00:12:24.37\00:12:28.28
He can end the exile, He
can defeat the oppressors,
00:12:28.31\00:12:32.21
He can liberate His people.
00:12:32.25\00:12:34.62
So you know me, I
have a list for you,
00:12:34.65\00:12:36.52
5 characteristics
00:12:36.55\00:12:37.95
that we find from
Isaiah chapter 40 of this God,
00:12:37.99\00:12:41.32
5 characteristics
of who this God is
00:12:41.36\00:12:43.32
that was going to deliver
them from Babylonian captivity,
00:12:43.36\00:12:46.39
and this God who
wants to deliver you and I
00:12:46.43\00:12:49.03
from whatever we go through.
00:12:49.06\00:12:51.00
But before we do that,
00:12:51.03\00:12:52.43
let's lay a
little more groundwork
00:12:52.47\00:12:54.07
with the first couple of
verses in Isaiah Chapter 40.
00:12:54.10\00:12:58.64
Isaiah 40:1,
00:12:58.67\00:13:00.48
"Comfort, yes,
00:13:00.51\00:13:01.94
comfort my people says your God,
00:13:01.98\00:13:04.45
speak comfort to Jerusalem,
00:13:04.48\00:13:07.02
and cry out to her
that her warfare is ended,
00:13:07.05\00:13:10.79
that her iniquity is pardoned."
00:13:10.82\00:13:13.29
Now how many times
was the word comfort used?
00:13:13.32\00:13:15.66
Comfort is a
command in this passage,
00:13:15.69\00:13:18.49
you can really see that.
00:13:18.53\00:13:19.86
"Comfort, yes,
comfort my people,
00:13:19.89\00:13:22.13
speak comfort to Jerusalem."
00:13:22.16\00:13:24.47
Three times, we see
this comfort mentioned.
00:13:24.50\00:13:27.90
It is in the Hebrew, it
is second person plural,
00:13:27.94\00:13:32.01
which just means in Texas style,
00:13:32.04\00:13:33.74
they would say
y'all have comfort now,
00:13:33.78\00:13:36.01
it means you all,
everyone, have this comfort.
00:13:36.04\00:13:40.35
The word in Hebrew,
00:13:40.38\00:13:41.98
literally, if you
look at the original route,
00:13:42.02\00:13:45.85
it means to breathe deeply.
00:13:45.89\00:13:49.76
Now I don't know about you,
00:13:49.79\00:13:51.29
but I find it sometimes
00:13:51.33\00:13:53.53
there are certain people
that I feel comfortable with.
00:13:53.56\00:13:57.93
Have you found some people
that you feel comfortable with?
00:13:57.97\00:13:59.90
People maybe you go
out to eat with them
00:13:59.93\00:14:01.54
and their friends
and you're comfortable.
00:14:01.57\00:14:03.41
People that you can sit down
00:14:03.44\00:14:04.77
and just share
what's on your heart
00:14:04.81\00:14:06.17
or what you're going through
or what you're experiencing.
00:14:06.21\00:14:08.71
It may be your spouse,
it may be your best friend.
00:14:08.74\00:14:11.88
Hopefully that's
one and the same,
00:14:11.91\00:14:13.35
but maybe you're not married
and maybe it's another friend.
00:14:13.38\00:14:15.92
It could be a family member,
00:14:15.95\00:14:17.39
it could be maybe
someone that you work with.
00:14:17.42\00:14:19.59
But these particular people
I have found in my own life,
00:14:19.62\00:14:23.06
sometimes I'll be
sitting and we'll be eating
00:14:23.09\00:14:25.26
or doing something
and I'll just go...
00:14:25.29\00:14:29.06
and they'll say,
00:14:29.10\00:14:30.43
"Jill, what was that all about?"
00:14:30.47\00:14:31.80
That's called comfort.
00:14:31.83\00:14:33.17
That is that deep breath in...
00:14:33.20\00:14:37.61
Why?
00:14:37.64\00:14:38.97
Because I feel at
peace, because I feel at rest,
00:14:39.01\00:14:41.74
because all that stress,
00:14:41.78\00:14:43.11
and all that whatever
you were carrying is gone,
00:14:43.14\00:14:46.25
because you are comforted.
00:14:46.28\00:14:48.28
Why were they to be comforted?
00:14:48.32\00:14:49.78
Because their
captivity was over.
00:14:49.82\00:14:52.99
It said speak
comfort to Jerusalem
00:14:53.02\00:14:55.09
that her warfare was ended,
00:14:55.12\00:14:56.56
meaning their 70
years of captivity
00:14:56.59\00:14:58.76
in Babylon was over.
00:14:58.79\00:15:01.36
David expressed it
this way in Psalm 30:5,
00:15:01.40\00:15:04.03
"Weeping it may
endure for the night,
00:15:04.07\00:15:06.53
but joy, it always
comes in the morning."
00:15:06.57\00:15:11.14
Song of Solomon
says it this way.
00:15:11.17\00:15:12.77
Song of Solomon 2:11-12.
00:15:12.81\00:15:15.94
"Lo, the winter is passed,
the rain is over and gone,
00:15:15.98\00:15:19.71
the flowers, they
appear on the earth,
00:15:19.75\00:15:22.28
the time of singing has come."
00:15:22.32\00:15:25.99
God sees and knows
everything that we go through.
00:15:26.02\00:15:31.03
Do you feel like
00:15:31.06\00:15:32.39
you're going through a time
00:15:32.43\00:15:33.76
of Babylonian
captivity right now?
00:15:33.80\00:15:35.13
Do you feel like you're
going through a time physically
00:15:35.16\00:15:37.07
or emotionally or spiritually
that God seems distant?
00:15:37.10\00:15:41.34
God seems far away from you.
00:15:41.37\00:15:43.37
You feel like you
have been in bondage?
00:15:43.41\00:15:45.94
And you say,
00:15:45.97\00:15:47.31
"Where am I supposed
to find this comfort?
00:15:47.34\00:15:48.78
Where is God?"
00:15:48.81\00:15:50.41
As we started, where is
God in the midst of my anguish
00:15:50.45\00:15:53.82
and my angst and
what I am experiencing?
00:15:53.85\00:15:56.99
God saw the Israelites in
their Babylonian captivity,
00:15:57.02\00:16:00.76
and I want to tell
you today, God sees you.
00:16:00.79\00:16:03.46
God knows your name,
00:16:03.49\00:16:06.09
and God will
seek to deliver you.
00:16:06.13\00:16:08.96
I think of the
children of Israel,
00:16:09.00\00:16:10.97
not in this
Babylonian captivity,
00:16:11.00\00:16:12.87
but this is centuries before
00:16:12.90\00:16:15.27
when they were
in Egyptian bondage.
00:16:15.30\00:16:17.61
And remember, this is
when God called Moses.
00:16:17.64\00:16:20.24
This is Exodus
3:7, the Lord said,
00:16:20.28\00:16:22.21
"I have seen the oppression
of My people who are in Egypt.
00:16:22.24\00:16:26.38
And I have heard their cry
because of their taskmasters.
00:16:26.41\00:16:30.29
I know their sorrows."
00:16:30.32\00:16:31.69
God sees you
00:16:31.72\00:16:33.32
in the midst of what
you are going through.
00:16:33.36\00:16:36.06
He doesn't just
see you, He hears you,
00:16:36.09\00:16:38.13
He knows and He understands.
00:16:38.16\00:16:40.73
Now this comfort
that was to be extended
00:16:40.76\00:16:42.93
to the people in
Babylonian captivity,
00:16:42.96\00:16:45.20
you and I are to
extend that comfort
00:16:45.23\00:16:47.10
to others as well.
00:16:47.14\00:16:48.70
2 Corinthians, turn with
me to 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.
00:16:48.74\00:16:54.14
Now tell me how many
times if you can count at home,
00:16:54.18\00:16:56.88
how many times you
hear the word comfort
00:16:56.91\00:16:59.85
mentioned in these two verses.
00:16:59.88\00:17:02.08
"Blessed be the God
00:17:02.12\00:17:03.65
and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ,
00:17:03.69\00:17:05.45
the Father of mercies and
God of all comfort, who..."
00:17:05.49\00:17:08.26
Wait a minute,
that's right, we missed one.
00:17:08.29\00:17:10.19
"The God of all comfort."
00:17:10.23\00:17:11.86
That's number one,
00:17:11.89\00:17:13.23
"Who comforts us..."
00:17:13.26\00:17:14.60
number two,
00:17:14.63\00:17:15.96
"In all our tribulation,
00:17:16.00\00:17:17.60
that we may be
able to comfort..."
00:17:17.63\00:17:20.14
number three,
00:17:20.17\00:17:21.50
"Those who are in any
trouble with the comfort
00:17:21.54\00:17:24.74
with which we
ourselves are comforted by God."
00:17:24.77\00:17:29.34
Five times in those two verses,
we see that word comfort.
00:17:29.38\00:17:35.25
God comforts in what
we are going through.
00:17:35.28\00:17:38.92
Why?
00:17:38.95\00:17:40.29
So that we can extend
that comfort to someone else.
00:17:40.32\00:17:43.66
God is a God of comfort.
00:17:43.69\00:17:45.69
God is also a God of discipline.
00:17:45.73\00:17:47.26
We see that in verse
two, Isaiah 40:2, it says,
00:17:47.30\00:17:51.73
"Speak comfort to
Jerusalem and cry to her
00:17:51.77\00:17:54.04
that her warfare is ended,
00:17:54.07\00:17:56.00
that her
iniquity, it's pardoned,
00:17:56.04\00:17:58.47
for she is received
from the Lord's hand..."
00:17:58.51\00:18:00.44
Wait a minute, she received it.
00:18:00.48\00:18:02.48
Did you catch that?
00:18:02.51\00:18:03.85
From the Lord's hand,
double for all her sins.
00:18:03.88\00:18:10.09
Now I would say,
00:18:10.12\00:18:11.45
"Okay, she
received from Satan's hand,
00:18:11.49\00:18:13.15
she received from
the Babylonians hand,
00:18:13.19\00:18:15.19
she received from...
00:18:15.22\00:18:16.56
When we go through
experiences and trials
00:18:16.59\00:18:19.59
that are not
always very pleasant,
00:18:19.63\00:18:20.96
many times we say
the enemy has done this,
00:18:21.00\00:18:23.00
and that is true.
00:18:23.03\00:18:24.37
Satan comes to
steal, kill, and destroy.
00:18:24.40\00:18:26.97
But there are also judgments
that come that are redemptive,
00:18:27.00\00:18:32.57
and those come from the
Lord, the Babylonian captivity,
00:18:32.61\00:18:36.18
it was redemptive.
00:18:36.21\00:18:37.61
God allowed that to happen
00:18:37.65\00:18:40.78
because the children of Israel
had turned their back on God.
00:18:40.82\00:18:44.15
They had spat in His face,
00:18:44.19\00:18:46.22
not just once, not just twice
00:18:46.25\00:18:48.26
but over and
over and over again.
00:18:48.29\00:18:53.09
God had called to them
00:18:53.13\00:18:54.46
and they had
repented and turned back
00:18:54.50\00:18:56.16
and then they
did their own thing
00:18:56.20\00:18:57.53
and followed idols
00:18:57.57\00:18:58.90
and intermarried with a heathen.
00:18:58.93\00:19:00.27
And then God called to them,
00:19:00.30\00:19:01.64
and they repented,
and they turned back
00:19:01.67\00:19:03.07
and then they
did their own thing
00:19:03.10\00:19:04.84
again and again and again.
00:19:04.87\00:19:07.21
And the final judgment
was this Babylonian captivity.
00:19:07.24\00:19:12.15
In Hebrews, we
find this, Hebrews 12:6,
00:19:12.18\00:19:15.72
"For whom the Lord
loves He chastens,"
00:19:15.75\00:19:21.12
Oh, that's kind of
hard for me sometimes.
00:19:21.16\00:19:22.92
"For whom the
Lord loves He chastens
00:19:22.96\00:19:26.49
and scourges every
son whom He receives."
00:19:26.53\00:19:30.23
Verse 11,
00:19:30.27\00:19:31.60
"Now no
chastening for the present,
00:19:31.63\00:19:33.10
it's not joyous,
but it's grievous.
00:19:33.13\00:19:35.44
Nevertheless, afterward,
00:19:35.47\00:19:37.77
it produces in you and in me
00:19:37.81\00:19:39.97
a peaceable
fruit of righteousness
00:19:40.01\00:19:44.01
to those who have
been trained by the trial."
00:19:44.05\00:19:46.78
What does that mean?
00:19:46.82\00:19:48.15
The trial seems
difficult, it looks difficult,
00:19:48.18\00:19:50.62
it is difficult,
00:19:50.65\00:19:52.19
but in the midst of that,
00:19:52.22\00:19:55.42
you and I are
developing a character
00:19:55.46\00:19:58.16
that looks more
and more every day,
00:19:58.19\00:20:01.73
like the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:20:01.76\00:20:04.43
Romans 5, you know, I
love the book of Romans.
00:20:04.47\00:20:06.94
Romans 5:3,
00:20:06.97\00:20:08.87
God's discipline
always has a purpose,
00:20:08.90\00:20:10.97
and I love that about our God.
00:20:11.01\00:20:13.58
Romans 5:3,
00:20:13.61\00:20:15.54
"And not only that, we
glory in tribulations..."
00:20:15.58\00:20:18.31
Wait a minute, we
glory, that means we rejoice,
00:20:18.35\00:20:21.78
we're happy, we exalt,
we exalt in tribulations.
00:20:21.82\00:20:27.96
That word for tribulations
in the Greek is thlipsis.
00:20:27.99\00:20:31.63
And it means internal pressure.
00:20:31.66\00:20:33.76
In the Greek, there's two
words for this type of trial
00:20:33.80\00:20:36.40
or tribulation.
00:20:36.43\00:20:37.77
One is an external pressure,
things that come against us.
00:20:37.80\00:20:41.40
The other one is
an internal pressure
00:20:41.44\00:20:44.47
or a mental pressure.
00:20:44.51\00:20:46.44
Have you ever noticed that
when you go through things,
00:20:46.47\00:20:48.84
a lot of times,
00:20:48.88\00:20:50.21
the biggest challenge is
what you face in your mind.
00:20:50.25\00:20:52.25
It is that internal pressure.
00:20:52.28\00:20:54.48
So we are supposed to
glory or exalt or be glad
00:20:54.52\00:20:59.79
when we have times
00:20:59.82\00:21:01.26
where we experience
this internal pressure.
00:21:01.29\00:21:04.36
Why?
00:21:04.39\00:21:05.73
Knowing that tribulation,
that's the internal pressure,
00:21:05.76\00:21:08.93
it produces perseverance.
00:21:08.96\00:21:12.60
Now the word perseverance
in Greek means to remain under.
00:21:12.63\00:21:18.24
Wait a minute.
00:21:18.27\00:21:19.61
So if I'm happy, if I
rejoice, if I'm grateful,
00:21:19.64\00:21:24.01
when I go through times
of internal stress and trial,
00:21:24.05\00:21:28.48
that allows me to remain under,
00:21:28.52\00:21:30.65
if it stopped there,
00:21:30.69\00:21:32.02
I wouldn't be
very happy about that.
00:21:32.05\00:21:33.39
But it doesn't.
00:21:33.42\00:21:34.76
This remaining under,
00:21:34.79\00:21:36.12
this perseverance
produces character.
00:21:36.16\00:21:39.33
There is a point in all of that.
00:21:39.36\00:21:41.30
This trial, this pressure,
what I am going through,
00:21:41.33\00:21:46.30
and I am experiencing allows me,
00:21:46.33\00:21:49.60
produces in me
eventually character,
00:21:49.64\00:21:53.21
growing into the image of Jesus.
00:21:53.24\00:21:55.84
It produces character,
00:21:55.88\00:21:57.91
and afterward
that produces hope.
00:21:57.95\00:22:02.18
God is able to comfort us,
00:22:02.22\00:22:03.65
God is clearly
able to discipline us,
00:22:03.69\00:22:06.55
God is able to prepare
our hearts to receive Him.
00:22:06.59\00:22:11.73
Let's look at verses
3 and 4, Isaiah 40:3-4,
00:22:11.76\00:22:15.63
"The voice of one
crying in the wilderness,
00:22:15.66\00:22:17.63
'Prepare the way of the Lord,
00:22:17.67\00:22:19.13
make straight in the
desert a highway for our God,
00:22:19.17\00:22:23.07
every valley
shall be exalted...' "
00:22:23.10\00:22:24.94
The low places are
going to be lifted up, "
00:22:24.97\00:22:27.38
And every mountain
will be brought low, "
00:22:27.41\00:22:29.91
that means the high places
are going to be brought down.
00:22:29.94\00:22:32.71
"The rough places
will be made smooth,
00:22:32.75\00:22:35.48
the glory of the
Lord shall be revealed,
00:22:35.52\00:22:38.35
and all flesh
shall see it together."
00:22:38.39\00:22:41.79
You know, in ancient times,
00:22:41.82\00:22:43.16
that king was not allowed
to be jolted by a rough road.
00:22:43.19\00:22:45.96
So they would
have people go before
00:22:45.99\00:22:47.66
to prepare the way for the king,
00:22:47.70\00:22:50.43
they would smooth
those rough places,
00:22:50.47\00:22:52.77
they would fill in the potholes.
00:22:52.80\00:22:54.84
And if there was
a hump in the road,
00:22:54.87\00:22:56.50
they would grind it down.
00:22:56.54\00:22:58.97
In the same way,
00:22:59.01\00:23:00.34
there is a spiritual roadwork
00:23:00.38\00:23:02.14
that is necessary
for you and for me
00:23:02.18\00:23:04.21
in order to prepare
our hearts to receive Him
00:23:04.25\00:23:07.12
as the King of
kings and Lord of lords.
00:23:07.15\00:23:10.12
This particular passage here,
00:23:10.15\00:23:11.75
I think, has three applications.
00:23:11.79\00:23:13.56
Now you might say it
has more and maybe it does.
00:23:13.59\00:23:16.09
But there's the
immediate application.
00:23:16.12\00:23:17.99
There was those
00:23:18.03\00:23:19.36
who were in
Babylonian captivity,
00:23:19.39\00:23:21.70
needed to be prepared to
return to their homeland,
00:23:21.73\00:23:25.33
the captives in Babylon,
they needed some heart work,
00:23:25.37\00:23:28.07
some spiritual work done
00:23:28.10\00:23:29.90
before they were
ready to go home.
00:23:29.94\00:23:32.01
What was that heart work?
00:23:32.04\00:23:33.81
I think they had
some obstacles of apathy,
00:23:33.84\00:23:36.21
obstacles of complacency,
00:23:36.24\00:23:38.45
maybe even self-centeredness
00:23:38.48\00:23:40.42
we find in Ezra and in Nehemiah,
00:23:40.45\00:23:43.28
when the call was made,
00:23:43.32\00:23:44.89
"Go back to your homeland.
00:23:44.92\00:23:46.69
Go back to Jerusalem,"
00:23:46.72\00:23:48.49
only a small amount of
the people went back, why?
00:23:48.52\00:23:51.19
They were
comfortable in Babylon,
00:23:51.23\00:23:54.30
they were settled in Babylon,
00:23:54.33\00:23:56.60
they needed this
heart work to be done
00:23:56.63\00:23:59.93
in order to prepare them
to return to their homeland.
00:23:59.97\00:24:04.61
Then we see a future application
00:24:04.64\00:24:06.54
and the Gospels
make this very clear.
00:24:06.57\00:24:08.74
John the Baptist fulfilled this,
00:24:08.78\00:24:10.28
the voice of one
crying in the wilderness
00:24:10.31\00:24:12.78
and what was he
preparing the way for?
00:24:12.81\00:24:14.82
The hearts of the
people needed repentance,
00:24:14.85\00:24:18.62
in order to be
ready to receive Jesus.
00:24:18.65\00:24:21.79
This was His first
coming as their Messiah.
00:24:21.82\00:24:25.46
And there was a great
deal of self-righteousness
00:24:25.49\00:24:28.00
that we saw with the
religious leaders of that day,
00:24:28.03\00:24:30.70
and religious externalism.
00:24:30.73\00:24:32.83
And then I see a
third application
00:24:32.87\00:24:34.80
which would be you and I today
00:24:34.84\00:24:36.17
waiting for the
second coming of Jesus.
00:24:36.20\00:24:39.17
We are, you could say,
00:24:39.21\00:24:40.54
captives on this earth
waiting for Him to come again.
00:24:40.58\00:24:43.81
And there is a message
again, coming to you and I,
00:24:43.85\00:24:46.45
a message of repentance,
a message of obedience,
00:24:46.48\00:24:49.28
a message of the hard
work that needs to be done
00:24:49.32\00:24:52.95
in our hearts and in our lives
00:24:52.99\00:24:54.62
for we are Laodicea
00:24:54.66\00:24:56.16
and God says that
00:24:56.19\00:24:57.53
He wants to turn up the
fire in our hearts and lives,
00:24:57.56\00:25:01.26
and make us ready for Him.
00:25:01.30\00:25:03.23
So who is this God?
00:25:03.26\00:25:04.83
Who is this God
that's able to comfort us?
00:25:04.87\00:25:06.70
Who is this God
that's able to discipline us?
00:25:06.74\00:25:09.64
Who is this God that's
able to prepare our hearts
00:25:09.67\00:25:12.67
to receive Him?
00:25:12.71\00:25:15.61
I'm going to look at
the five characteristics
00:25:15.64\00:25:17.68
of our God
00:25:17.71\00:25:19.05
that I see from
Isaiah Chapter 40.
00:25:19.08\00:25:20.88
I'm going to give you the
five and then we'll unpack them.
00:25:20.92\00:25:23.69
This God, your God, my
God, our God is omnipotent,
00:25:23.72\00:25:28.09
that's number one.
00:25:28.12\00:25:29.46
Number two, He is omniscient.
00:25:29.49\00:25:31.99
Number three, He is sovereign.
00:25:32.03\00:25:34.93
Number four, He
is without compare.
00:25:34.96\00:25:38.30
And number five,
He is our Creator.
00:25:38.33\00:25:41.84
So let's unpack them.
00:25:41.87\00:25:43.20
We're in Isaiah
40:12, who is your God?
00:25:43.24\00:25:45.77
How big is your God?
00:25:45.81\00:25:47.64
Our God is omnipotent.
00:25:47.68\00:25:50.15
That just means
He's all powerful.
00:25:50.18\00:25:52.78
His power is limitless.
00:25:52.81\00:25:55.35
Let's look at Isaiah 40:12,
00:25:55.38\00:25:58.09
"Who has measured the waters
00:25:58.12\00:26:00.89
in the hollow of His hand?
00:26:00.92\00:26:03.36
Measured heaven with a span
00:26:03.39\00:26:05.16
and calculated the dust
of the earth in a measure.
00:26:05.19\00:26:08.23
Weighted the
mountains in scales,
00:26:08.26\00:26:11.23
and the hills in a balance."
00:26:11.27\00:26:13.47
Who is this God?
00:26:13.50\00:26:14.84
Who is this God
that can hold the waters
00:26:14.87\00:26:17.14
in the hollow or
the palm of His hand?
00:26:17.17\00:26:20.38
Now I don't know about you,
00:26:20.41\00:26:21.74
but I could maybe
hold a cup of water,
00:26:21.78\00:26:24.41
I could definitely hold
this, you could too, probably.
00:26:24.45\00:26:28.22
Maybe we could hold a quart.
00:26:28.25\00:26:29.88
If you're a really
strong body builder,
00:26:29.92\00:26:31.25
maybe you could hold a
gallon or maybe five gallons.
00:26:31.29\00:26:34.02
I couldn't even attempt that.
00:26:34.06\00:26:35.56
But maybe you
could hold five gallons
00:26:35.59\00:26:37.53
outstretched with your hand.
00:26:37.56\00:26:39.66
But do you know how
much water is on the earth.
00:26:39.69\00:26:45.07
If you count the
oceans, and the rivers,
00:26:45.10\00:26:47.17
and the sea and the
vastness of all of it,
00:26:47.20\00:26:50.14
we're talking 326 million
trillion gallons of water.
00:26:50.17\00:26:56.04
We're not talking about a God
00:26:56.08\00:26:57.41
who can hold five
gallon bucket and balance it.
00:26:57.45\00:26:59.81
And we think that was
a pretty tremendous feat,
00:26:59.85\00:27:02.08
or God who can hold 100 gallons
00:27:02.12\00:27:04.62
or 1,000 gallons
or 100, 000 gallons
00:27:04.65\00:27:08.09
but 326 million
trillion gallons,
00:27:08.12\00:27:11.89
who has measured the waters,
00:27:11.93\00:27:13.26
he can measure all
the waters of the earth
00:27:13.29\00:27:14.96
in the hollow of His hand.
00:27:15.00\00:27:16.93
Measured heaven with a span
00:27:16.97\00:27:18.70
and calculated the dust
of the earth in a measure,
00:27:18.73\00:27:21.70
how can you even
calculate the dust of the earth?
00:27:21.74\00:27:25.64
They say that
earth's atmosphere contains
00:27:25.67\00:27:28.78
17 million metric
tons of coarse dirt.
00:27:28.81\00:27:32.45
Now that's quite a
bit of coarse dirt,
00:27:32.48\00:27:34.42
17 million.
00:27:34.45\00:27:35.92
That would be the mass
of 17 million elephants
00:27:35.95\00:27:38.12
all put together.
00:27:38.15\00:27:39.49
And he measures
that in a measure,
00:27:39.52\00:27:43.19
weighted the
mountains in scales,
00:27:43.22\00:27:45.26
there's over 1 million
mountains on earth today,
00:27:45.29\00:27:48.16
weighted them in a scale,
and the hills in a balance.
00:27:48.20\00:27:53.13
Do you feel like
00:27:53.17\00:27:54.50
you're going
through a hard time?
00:27:54.54\00:27:55.87
Do you feel like your
problems are insurmountable,
00:27:55.90\00:27:58.81
and you can't even measure them,
00:27:58.84\00:28:01.48
and you can't
even see over them.
00:28:01.51\00:28:03.75
Our God, your God is omnipotent.
00:28:03.78\00:28:07.15
He can hold the sea
in the palm of His hand,
00:28:07.18\00:28:10.22
He can hold the dust.
00:28:10.25\00:28:12.69
Our God is omnipotent.
00:28:12.72\00:28:14.12
Our God is omniscient.
00:28:14.16\00:28:16.16
That just means
that He is all knowing.
00:28:16.19\00:28:19.49
His wisdom, it is unsearchable.
00:28:19.53\00:28:21.50
Let's look at the next
verse, Isaiah 40:13-14,
00:28:21.53\00:28:26.20
"Who has directed
the Spirit of the Lord
00:28:26.23\00:28:30.04
or as His
counselor has taught Him?"
00:28:30.07\00:28:32.34
So what's He
saying? Who's taught God?
00:28:32.37\00:28:35.31
So how did God
get to be so smart?
00:28:35.34\00:28:36.91
And I mean that
00:28:36.95\00:28:38.28
in the most
respectful way possible.
00:28:38.31\00:28:39.81
How did God develop wisdom?
00:28:39.85\00:28:42.28
Who taught Him?
00:28:42.32\00:28:43.92
How did He learn all that?
00:28:43.95\00:28:46.09
You know, my uncle
is a nuclear physicist.
00:28:46.12\00:28:49.96
And when I was growing
up, I would always say,
00:28:49.99\00:28:52.59
"Uncle, what do you do?"
00:28:52.63\00:28:53.96
And he would try to explain
00:28:54.00\00:28:55.66
and it would go in
one ear and out the other
00:28:55.70\00:28:58.00
'cause he is
incredibly brilliant.
00:28:58.03\00:29:02.20
He works at a teaching hospital.
00:29:02.24\00:29:03.84
He teaches nuclear physics
to aspiring other doctors.
00:29:03.87\00:29:09.14
He works with the machines
and works with patients,
00:29:09.18\00:29:13.48
he's incredible.
00:29:13.52\00:29:14.85
My grandfather is a
doctor, and my dad is a doctor,
00:29:14.88\00:29:17.45
and my other uncle is a doctor.
00:29:17.49\00:29:19.79
But that means nothing,
00:29:19.82\00:29:21.59
if you had the best
doctors in the world,
00:29:21.62\00:29:25.06
if you had the
best legal defense team
00:29:25.09\00:29:27.90
in the country,
00:29:27.93\00:29:29.30
could they teach God anything?
00:29:29.33\00:29:30.67
If you had a Nobel Prize winner,
00:29:30.70\00:29:33.64
would they be
able to teach anything?
00:29:33.67\00:29:35.37
Who has directed
the Spirit of the Lord
00:29:35.40\00:29:37.64
or as His
counselor has taught Him?
00:29:37.67\00:29:39.84
Our God is omniscient.
Our God knows everything.
00:29:39.87\00:29:44.95
He sees everything,
His wisdom is unsearchable.
00:29:44.98\00:29:48.88
"With whom did He take counsel,
00:29:48.92\00:29:50.62
who instructed Him
00:29:50.65\00:29:51.99
and taught Him
the path of justice?
00:29:52.02\00:29:54.59
Who taught Him knowledge
00:29:54.62\00:29:55.96
and showed Him the
way of understanding?"
00:29:55.99\00:30:00.13
Number three
characteristic of God.
00:30:00.16\00:30:02.00
God is sovereign, His
authority is absolute.
00:30:02.03\00:30:08.57
Let's look at the next
verse, Isaiah 40:15-17.
00:30:08.60\00:30:12.07
"Behold, the nations,"
00:30:12.11\00:30:13.71
they're just a
drop in the bucket,
00:30:13.74\00:30:15.61
"are counted as
small dust on the scales.
00:30:15.64\00:30:19.01
Look, He lifts up
the isles or the islands
00:30:19.05\00:30:21.75
as a very little thing."
00:30:21.78\00:30:23.22
Now the nations are
a drop in the bucket.
00:30:23.25\00:30:25.49
How many nations do
we have here on earth?
00:30:25.52\00:30:28.56
There's 195 countries,
if you don't count Taiwan,
00:30:28.59\00:30:32.59
you don't count the Cook Islands
00:30:32.63\00:30:34.00
and other dependencies.
00:30:34.03\00:30:35.36
So there's at
least 195 countries.
00:30:35.40\00:30:37.77
He measures them,
all those nations,
00:30:37.80\00:30:40.04
all that landmass,
all those governments,
00:30:40.07\00:30:42.87
all those people,
He measures them what?
00:30:42.90\00:30:45.34
As simply a drop in the bucket.
00:30:45.37\00:30:48.88
They're counted as
small dust on the scales.
00:30:48.91\00:30:51.71
He lifts up the islands
00:30:51.75\00:30:53.08
and the islands in the
sea as a very small thing.
00:30:53.11\00:30:57.32
"Lebanon is not
sufficient to burn,
00:30:57.35\00:30:59.22
nor its beasts
sufficient for a burnt offering.
00:30:59.25\00:31:02.39
All nations are
before Him as nothing.
00:31:02.42\00:31:06.49
And they are accounted by Him
00:31:06.53\00:31:07.90
less than
nothing and worthless."
00:31:07.93\00:31:09.90
Verse 23 says,
00:31:09.93\00:31:11.30
"He brings the
princes to nothing.
00:31:11.33\00:31:14.07
He makes the judges
of the earth useless."
00:31:14.10\00:31:17.17
It reminds me of
Daniel chapter 4.
00:31:17.21\00:31:19.77
Remember, Nebuchadnezzar,
and he was king of Babylon.
00:31:19.81\00:31:24.45
He was a good king,
00:31:24.48\00:31:25.81
and he was a
brilliant military leader.
00:31:25.85\00:31:27.88
He was also
quite stuck on himself
00:31:27.92\00:31:30.39
and egotistical.
00:31:30.42\00:31:31.75
And I have a feeling
00:31:31.79\00:31:33.12
if you and I
associated with him,
00:31:33.15\00:31:34.49
he'd probably
rub us the wrong way.
00:31:34.52\00:31:35.96
And so he believed that
Babylon was its greatness,
00:31:35.99\00:31:40.56
its beauty, its power,
00:31:40.60\00:31:42.56
its might was a
result of what he had done.
00:31:42.60\00:31:46.57
His power,
00:31:46.60\00:31:47.94
his superior
military intelligence,
00:31:47.97\00:31:50.64
his genius.
00:31:50.67\00:31:52.21
And so God through the
Prophet Daniel worked with him,
00:31:52.24\00:31:56.34
gave him a dream, vision.
00:31:56.38\00:31:58.55
Daniel interpreted it, said,
00:31:58.58\00:31:59.91
"Please, oh, king,
repent and recognize
00:31:59.95\00:32:02.85
the sovereignty of God."
00:32:02.88\00:32:04.22
And he did for a time
and then about a year later,
00:32:04.25\00:32:06.92
he walked in Babylon and said,
00:32:06.96\00:32:08.42
"Is not this the great
Babylon that I have built?"
00:32:08.46\00:32:12.36
And then at that very moment,
00:32:12.39\00:32:14.36
as the words were just coming
from his mouth, what happened?
00:32:14.40\00:32:18.37
He became like a raving lunatic,
00:32:18.40\00:32:20.67
you could say, and
he crawled on the grass,
00:32:20.70\00:32:23.67
and he ate
grass for seven years,
00:32:23.71\00:32:26.88
until he knew and
acknowledged and understood
00:32:26.91\00:32:31.65
that the Most High
the God in heaven is God,
00:32:31.68\00:32:36.99
and He is sovereign.
00:32:37.02\00:32:39.55
And His authority is absolute.
00:32:39.59\00:32:41.92
And when Nebuchadnezzar's sanity
00:32:41.96\00:32:43.56
was returned to
him toward the end,
00:32:43.59\00:32:46.06
he said what?
00:32:46.09\00:32:47.43
Those who walk in pride,
00:32:47.46\00:32:49.16
he is able to abase
00:32:49.20\00:32:51.50
because Nebuchadnezzar had
experienced that firsthand.
00:32:51.53\00:32:54.47
Our God is
omnipotent, He can do anything.
00:32:54.50\00:32:59.31
Our God is omniscient.
00:32:59.34\00:33:01.68
He knows everything.
00:33:01.71\00:33:03.91
In fact, He
created all knowledge
00:33:03.95\00:33:05.75
and all intelligence
that any one of us have.
00:33:05.78\00:33:08.32
Our God is sovereign, His
authority, it is absolute.
00:33:08.35\00:33:12.92
Number four,
00:33:12.95\00:33:14.29
our God, I love this
one, is without compare.
00:33:14.32\00:33:19.83
Isaiah 40:18,
00:33:19.86\00:33:21.86
"To whom then
will you liken God?"
00:33:21.90\00:33:23.23
Isaiah said,
00:33:23.26\00:33:24.60
"Okay, so this
God can hold the seas
00:33:24.63\00:33:26.37
in the palm of His hand,
00:33:26.40\00:33:27.74
and this God can
measure heavens with a span,
00:33:27.77\00:33:29.97
this God can pick up
the islands from the sea,
00:33:30.01\00:33:32.61
and He can put
the mountains down.
00:33:32.64\00:33:35.04
This God can do everything,
this God knows everything.
00:33:35.08\00:33:38.25
To whom are you
going to liken God?
00:33:38.28\00:33:40.32
To whom will you liken God?"
00:33:40.35\00:33:42.08
And of course,
the answer is Nobody.
00:33:42.12\00:33:44.82
Nobody.
00:33:44.85\00:33:46.19
Our God is without compare.
00:33:46.22\00:33:49.72
"Or what likeness
will you compare to Him?
00:33:49.76\00:33:52.09
The workman molds an image,
00:33:52.13\00:33:54.66
the goldsmith
overspreads it with gold,
00:33:54.70\00:33:57.63
and the silversmith
casts silver chains.
00:33:57.67\00:34:00.17
Whoever is too impoverished
00:34:00.20\00:34:02.20
for such a contribution
00:34:02.24\00:34:03.87
chooses a tree
that will not rot.
00:34:03.91\00:34:05.87
He seeks for
himself a skillful workman
00:34:05.91\00:34:09.24
to prepare a carved
image that will not totter."
00:34:09.28\00:34:12.78
To whom we liken God?
00:34:12.81\00:34:14.32
The answer is nobody.
00:34:14.35\00:34:16.08
Nobody compares with our God.
00:34:16.12\00:34:19.69
Workmen can't create an image,
they can't create an idol,
00:34:19.72\00:34:23.43
even the best
crafted workmanship,
00:34:23.46\00:34:26.19
the most beautiful
designs and architecture
00:34:26.23\00:34:28.66
or in art that we see today
is nothing compared to our God.
00:34:28.70\00:34:34.97
Characteristic number five,
00:34:35.00\00:34:36.67
our God, your God,
my God is our Creator.
00:34:36.71\00:34:41.94
Let's look at Isaiah
40:21, "Have you not known?
00:34:41.98\00:34:47.35
Have you not heard?
00:34:47.38\00:34:50.42
Has it not been told
you from the beginning?
00:34:50.45\00:34:52.85
Have you not understood
00:34:52.89\00:34:54.42
from the
foundations of the earth?"
00:34:54.46\00:34:56.46
From the very beginning of time,
00:34:56.49\00:34:58.63
have you not known this?
00:34:58.66\00:35:01.00
"It is He..."
00:35:01.03\00:35:02.36
God, our God,
00:35:02.40\00:35:03.73
"Who sits above the
circle of the earth,
00:35:03.77\00:35:05.83
and the inhabitants,
we're just like grasshoppers.
00:35:05.87\00:35:08.90
He stretches out the
heavens like a curtain
00:35:08.94\00:35:11.94
and spreads them out
like a tent to dwell in."
00:35:11.97\00:35:15.18
Jump down to verse 25,
00:35:15.21\00:35:18.48
"'To whom then
will you liken Me?
00:35:18.51\00:35:21.12
Or whom shall I be
equal', says the Holy One.
00:35:21.15\00:35:26.49
Lift up your eyes on high,
00:35:26.52\00:35:28.59
and see who has
created these things,
00:35:28.62\00:35:31.96
who brings out
their host by number,
00:35:31.99\00:35:35.10
He calls them all by name,
by the greatness of His might,
00:35:35.13\00:35:39.07
and the strength of His power,
not one of them is missing."
00:35:39.10\00:35:43.27
Did you catch that?
00:35:43.30\00:35:44.64
Who set the world in motion
00:35:44.67\00:35:46.01
and keeps the
galaxies in their orbit?
00:35:46.04\00:35:48.28
Who created the
universe and hung the stars?
00:35:48.31\00:35:51.45
Who can compare
with a God who does that?
00:35:51.48\00:35:54.88
Lift up your eyes and
see, the Lord, your Creator,
00:35:54.92\00:35:59.45
your redeemer, He did that.
00:35:59.49\00:36:02.32
He hung the galaxies, He
hung the moon and the stars,
00:36:02.36\00:36:05.59
He created this earth,
00:36:05.63\00:36:07.60
He spoke it into
existence and formed you and I,
00:36:07.63\00:36:13.07
with His hands,
the dust of the earth,
00:36:13.10\00:36:15.64
but He formed us with His hand,
Adam and Eve, and by extension,
00:36:15.67\00:36:20.01
the rest of us.
00:36:20.04\00:36:21.38
He created us.
00:36:21.41\00:36:22.74
Who is a god like that?
00:36:22.78\00:36:25.91
Our God, your God,
00:36:25.95\00:36:27.75
my God is
omnipotent, He's all powerful.
00:36:27.78\00:36:30.35
He's omniscient,
He is all knowing,
00:36:30.39\00:36:33.25
He is sovereign,
00:36:33.29\00:36:35.16
He is without
compare, and He is our Creator.
00:36:35.19\00:36:40.33
So what does that
do for us here today?
00:36:40.36\00:36:42.90
You might say,
"Okay, that's great, Jill,
00:36:42.93\00:36:44.43
I'm glad to know
that God's all powerful.
00:36:44.47\00:36:45.93
I'm glad to know
He can do anything.
00:36:45.97\00:36:48.84
I'm kind of glad to
know that He knows everything
00:36:48.87\00:36:50.74
and that He's
sovereign, omniscient.
00:36:50.77\00:36:54.78
I'm kind of glad to know
that He's without compare,
00:36:54.81\00:36:57.05
and there's nobody
who compares with Him.
00:36:57.08\00:36:59.51
I'm kind of glad to
know that He is creator,
00:36:59.55\00:37:01.42
but what's that
mean for me today?"
00:37:01.45\00:37:03.89
These are the
lessons that I learned
00:37:03.92\00:37:06.29
from what we've just studied
here in Isaiah Chapter 40.
00:37:06.32\00:37:12.03
First lesson,
look at your problems
00:37:12.06\00:37:15.30
against the backdrop
of your incomparable God.
00:37:15.33\00:37:20.44
So if we have an
illustration here,
00:37:20.47\00:37:22.14
imagine that God is here,
00:37:22.17\00:37:24.24
okay, just for the
purpose of imagination,
00:37:24.27\00:37:26.64
imagine God is here.
00:37:26.68\00:37:28.01
And your problems are right here
00:37:28.04\00:37:29.38
where the lectern is.
00:37:29.41\00:37:31.71
Often, we look at
our problems this way,
00:37:31.75\00:37:38.35
God's here behind me,
00:37:38.39\00:37:39.85
I turned my back to God.
00:37:39.89\00:37:41.22
And I look at my
problem here and what happens?
00:37:41.26\00:37:43.43
They grow. Have
you ever noticed that?
00:37:43.46\00:37:45.29
They become insurmountable.
00:37:45.33\00:37:46.96
I look and I say,
00:37:47.00\00:37:48.33
"But what am I
gonna do with that?
00:37:48.36\00:37:50.33
God, that's a cancer diagnosis."
00:37:50.37\00:37:52.07
Are you facing that?
00:37:52.10\00:37:53.44
"God, that's a
marriage that's splitting up."
00:37:53.47\00:37:55.27
Are you facing that?
00:37:55.30\00:37:56.64
"God, that's a friendship
that I've had for years,
00:37:56.67\00:37:59.31
and it's destroyed."
00:37:59.34\00:38:00.88
Are you facing that?
00:38:00.91\00:38:02.24
"God, my kids have
walked away from You?
00:38:02.28\00:38:04.61
And I don't even know
what to do with that."
00:38:04.65\00:38:06.61
Are you facing that?
00:38:06.65\00:38:07.98
"God, I'm afraid
during this time,"
00:38:08.02\00:38:11.99
are you facing fear?
00:38:12.02\00:38:13.36
"God, I feel alone,
God, I feel abandoned.
00:38:13.39\00:38:17.43
God, I don't even know."
00:38:17.46\00:38:18.79
And so we turn our back to
God, and we put Him behind us,
00:38:18.83\00:38:21.80
and we look at
our problems here.
00:38:21.83\00:38:23.67
And they look insurmountable.
00:38:23.70\00:38:27.94
Instead, we
should look at our God.
00:38:27.97\00:38:30.84
And the problems
00:38:30.87\00:38:32.21
are going to go
into perspective.
00:38:32.24\00:38:33.58
So instead of
having your back to God,
00:38:33.61\00:38:35.71
and looking at your problems,
00:38:35.74\00:38:37.08
and looking at
the greatness of them,
00:38:37.11\00:38:38.85
and the grandeur of them,
00:38:38.88\00:38:40.58
and what you are
going through right now,
00:38:40.62\00:38:42.72
and there's some tough stuff,
00:38:42.75\00:38:44.42
there's some tough
stuff in this world.
00:38:44.45\00:38:46.52
So that is not
negating what the problems are.
00:38:46.55\00:38:49.36
But if you turn
around, and you face this way,
00:38:49.39\00:38:52.26
and you look at the problems
00:38:52.29\00:38:54.13
through the lens of
God on the other side,
00:38:54.16\00:38:56.06
those problems are
like a grasshopper,
00:38:56.10\00:38:58.10
as we just read.
00:38:58.13\00:38:59.47
They become like
a one grain of sand
00:38:59.50\00:39:01.90
on the seashore.
00:39:01.94\00:39:03.27
If you look at what
you are going through,
00:39:03.30\00:39:05.14
if you look at the
experiences in your life,
00:39:05.17\00:39:08.48
through the lens
of who your God is,
00:39:08.51\00:39:11.48
your God can hold the water,
00:39:11.51\00:39:13.62
all the ocean in
the palm of His hand.
00:39:13.65\00:39:15.88
Your God can
measure the grains of sand,
00:39:15.92\00:39:18.65
your God can
pick up the mountains,
00:39:18.69\00:39:20.46
and He can pick up
the islands of the sea,
00:39:20.49\00:39:22.12
your God knows everything.
00:39:22.16\00:39:24.86
What's He going to
do with this problem
00:39:24.89\00:39:26.23
of not having
enough food to eat?
00:39:26.26\00:39:27.60
What's He going to
do with this problem
00:39:27.63\00:39:28.96
of not knowing
what I'm going to do
00:39:29.00\00:39:30.33
with my health?
00:39:30.37\00:39:31.70
Your God can do anything.
00:39:31.73\00:39:34.17
What matters
supremely in the last analysis
00:39:34.20\00:39:37.51
is not the fact that I know God.
00:39:37.54\00:39:40.84
Rather, it's the
fact that my God knows me.
00:39:40.88\00:39:44.11
If you hear nothing else
today, I want you to hear that.
00:39:44.15\00:39:47.58
What matters most
00:39:47.62\00:39:48.95
is not the fact
that you know God
00:39:48.98\00:39:50.72
and you're seeking
God, and that is powerful,
00:39:50.75\00:39:52.92
but what is even more powerful
is that your God, He knows you.
00:39:52.95\00:39:58.13
And I want you say this with me.
00:39:58.16\00:39:59.49
I am graven on
the palm of His hand,
00:39:59.53\00:40:03.70
know that today.
00:40:03.73\00:40:05.07
You are graven on
the palm of His hand.
00:40:05.10\00:40:08.30
You are never out of His mind.
00:40:08.34\00:40:11.61
All of my knowledge of Him
00:40:11.64\00:40:13.24
depends on His
sustained initiative
00:40:13.27\00:40:15.71
in knowing who I am,
00:40:15.74\00:40:17.81
even what I think
00:40:17.85\00:40:19.18
I understand in the Word of God,
00:40:19.21\00:40:20.55
that depends on
Him revealing it to me.
00:40:20.58\00:40:22.45
Even what I understand
when I spend time in prayer
00:40:22.48\00:40:25.72
or I study or I
experience Him in nature,
00:40:25.75\00:40:28.26
that whole
depends on His initiative
00:40:28.29\00:40:31.16
in knowing me.
00:40:31.19\00:40:33.19
I know Him because why?
00:40:33.23\00:40:35.16
Because He first knew me.
00:40:35.20\00:40:37.17
And there is no moment
when His eye is off me.
00:40:37.20\00:40:40.64
There is no moment
00:40:40.67\00:40:42.00
when His attention
is distracted from me.
00:40:42.04\00:40:45.27
There is no moment when
His care for me falters.
00:40:45.31\00:40:49.64
This is momentous knowledge,
this is unspeakable comfort.
00:40:49.68\00:40:54.72
My God, your God
00:40:54.75\00:40:57.09
is constantly
watching over us for our good.
00:40:57.12\00:41:01.36
So the first lesson I learned
00:41:01.39\00:41:02.72
from this whole
passage in Isaiah 40
00:41:02.76\00:41:04.79
is that I am to
look at my problems
00:41:04.83\00:41:08.00
against the
backdrop of who my God is.
00:41:08.03\00:41:12.53
If you
understand who your God is,
00:41:12.57\00:41:14.70
if you know Him,
00:41:14.74\00:41:16.40
if you know that He knows you,
00:41:16.44\00:41:19.04
and you look at
that against the backdrop
00:41:19.07\00:41:21.44
of who your God is,
00:41:21.48\00:41:23.24
those problems,
they're going to change.
00:41:23.28\00:41:25.98
It doesn't mean they go away.
00:41:26.01\00:41:27.52
It doesn't mean that
we don't sometimes walk
00:41:27.55\00:41:29.85
through the
valley of the shadow.
00:41:29.88\00:41:31.45
It doesn't mean
that there isn't pain,
00:41:31.49\00:41:33.59
but it means that
God walks with you.
00:41:33.62\00:41:36.96
And He is with you
in the midst of that,
00:41:36.99\00:41:40.70
it kind of puts
life into perspective.
00:41:40.73\00:41:43.47
The second lesson I learned
is to change my focus to God,
00:41:43.50\00:41:47.34
instead of
complaining about the present.
00:41:47.37\00:41:50.17
I don't know about you,
but I can complain sometimes.
00:41:50.21\00:41:52.67
I can say, "God,
why is this happening?
00:41:52.71\00:41:54.28
Or, God, I don't
understand, or God...
00:41:54.31\00:41:57.18
Could you change this?"
00:41:57.21\00:41:58.88
And yet, if we
look at Isaiah 40:27,
00:41:58.91\00:42:01.98
it says, "Why do
you say, O Jacob,
00:42:02.02\00:42:04.49
and speak, O Israel.
00:42:04.52\00:42:06.72
Why do you say my way
is hidden from the Lord?
00:42:06.76\00:42:09.52
And my just claims is
passed over by my God."
00:42:09.56\00:42:14.46
Job cried out the
same type of complaint.
00:42:14.50\00:42:17.47
We see that in Job 19:7,
he said, "I cry out help.
00:42:17.50\00:42:23.30
But You don't answer me.
00:42:23.34\00:42:24.91
I protest, and
there is no judgment."
00:42:24.94\00:42:29.91
There is no justice.
00:42:29.94\00:42:31.91
So instead of complaining,
I just call it whining,
00:42:31.95\00:42:35.38
about what is going on
right now in your life.
00:42:35.42\00:42:40.12
Change your focus
to who your God is.
00:42:40.16\00:42:43.66
Look at Him
against that backdrop.
00:42:43.69\00:42:47.33
Remember, look at the problems
00:42:47.36\00:42:48.73
against the
backdrop of who your God is.
00:42:48.76\00:42:52.53
Lesson number
three that I gained,
00:42:52.57\00:42:54.47
our almighty God,
00:42:54.50\00:42:56.47
our omnipotent
God, our omniscient God,
00:42:56.50\00:43:01.11
our sovereign
God, our Creator God.
00:43:01.14\00:43:04.85
He specializes in
reaching the unreachable,
00:43:04.88\00:43:07.78
and empowering the hopeless,
00:43:07.82\00:43:10.25
in strengthening the weakest
and encouraging the lowest,
00:43:10.29\00:43:14.16
and lifting the oppressed.
00:43:14.19\00:43:17.33
Isaiah 40:28-29.
00:43:17.36\00:43:20.83
I love this passage,
00:43:20.86\00:43:22.20
we're coming to the
climax of Isaiah Chapter 40.
00:43:22.23\00:43:24.07
We're almost done
with this chapter.
00:43:24.10\00:43:25.83
I love this.
00:43:25.87\00:43:27.24
"Have you not known?
00:43:27.27\00:43:28.90
Have you not heard?
00:43:28.94\00:43:31.47
The everlasting God..."
00:43:31.51\00:43:32.97
That's the omnipotent God.
00:43:33.01\00:43:34.34
That's the omniscient God.
00:43:34.38\00:43:35.88
That is your Creator
God, the everlasting God.
00:43:35.91\00:43:39.08
"The Lord, the Creator
of the ends of the earth,
00:43:39.11\00:43:42.92
He neither faints, nor is weary.
00:43:42.95\00:43:46.19
His
understanding is unsearchable.
00:43:46.22\00:43:49.59
He gifts power to the weak,
00:43:49.62\00:43:51.96
and to those who have no
might, He increases strength."
00:43:51.99\00:43:56.33
Do you feel unreachable?
Do you feel hopeless?
00:43:56.36\00:43:58.33
Do you feel
weak? Do you feel low?
00:43:58.37\00:44:00.24
Do you feel oppressed?
00:44:00.27\00:44:02.37
Our God, your God, my God,
00:44:02.40\00:44:05.87
He specializes in
reaching the unreachable,
00:44:05.91\00:44:10.35
and empowering the hopeless,
00:44:10.38\00:44:12.78
and strengthening the weakest,
and encouraging the lowest,
00:44:12.81\00:44:17.95
in lifting the oppressed.
00:44:17.99\00:44:21.52
Finally, the last
lesson I get is waiting on God
00:44:21.56\00:44:25.66
increases your
power and your strength.
00:44:25.69\00:44:29.36
Do you need power?
00:44:29.40\00:44:30.77
Do you need strength?
00:44:30.80\00:44:33.07
Wait on God.
00:44:33.10\00:44:34.44
This is the final two
verses of this section,
00:44:34.47\00:44:36.81
Isaiah 40:30-31.
00:44:36.84\00:44:39.27
"Even the youths
shall faint and be weary,
00:44:39.31\00:44:42.91
and the young men,
they shall utterly fall.
00:44:42.94\00:44:47.18
But those who wait on the
Lord shall renew their strength.
00:44:47.22\00:44:51.49
They shall mount up
with wings like eagles,
00:44:51.52\00:44:54.79
they shall run and not be weary,
00:44:54.82\00:44:57.83
they shall walk and
they're not going faint."
00:44:57.86\00:45:02.93
Do you know sometimes
00:45:02.96\00:45:04.33
the Christian walk we make
00:45:08.00\00:45:09.84
more stressful
than it needs to be.
00:45:09.87\00:45:13.81
Let me give you an example.
00:45:13.84\00:45:15.18
This applies right here
in this Isaiah chapter 40.
00:45:15.21\00:45:18.28
I think of Isaiah 26:3,
what does that scripture say?
00:45:18.31\00:45:21.88
"You will keep him
in perfect peace, "
00:45:21.92\00:45:23.85
God will keep
us in perfect peace
00:45:23.89\00:45:26.19
whose mind is stayed on Him.
00:45:26.22\00:45:27.96
Because why?
Because we trust in Him.
00:45:27.99\00:45:32.49
That verse used to stress me,
00:45:32.53\00:45:34.63
I would say, "Okay,
God, if I want perfect peace,
00:45:34.66\00:45:38.07
I need to keep my mind on God,
00:45:38.10\00:45:39.57
I need to focus on Him, I
need to keep focused on Him.
00:45:39.60\00:45:43.07
If I want perfect peace,
I need to be focused on Him.
00:45:43.10\00:45:46.88
But what it really
means in the Hebrew
00:45:46.91\00:45:48.78
is that we are
called to lean on,
00:45:48.81\00:45:51.91
we are called to rely on,
00:45:51.95\00:45:55.08
so instead of me
focusing and thinking,
00:45:55.12\00:45:57.42
"Think harder,
Jill, focus more on God."
00:45:57.45\00:45:59.92
All it literally means
is I put my head in His lap,
00:45:59.95\00:46:03.19
and He will keep my
heart in perfect peace.
00:46:03.22\00:46:05.76
When I read this verse,
00:46:05.79\00:46:07.13
"Those who wait on the
Lord renew their strength,"
00:46:07.16\00:46:09.63
that's not meant to be a
stressful time of waiting,
00:46:09.66\00:46:12.40
it simply means you
lean your head on Him,
00:46:12.43\00:46:16.30
relax on Him as
your Abba, daddy,
00:46:16.34\00:46:19.07
and know that He
will renew your strength,
00:46:19.11\00:46:22.11
that you can mount up
with wings like eagles run
00:46:22.14\00:46:24.78
and not be weary,
walk and not faint.
00:46:24.81\00:46:27.75
How big is your God today?
00:46:27.78\00:46:30.22
Is your God omnipotent?
00:46:30.25\00:46:32.02
Is your God omniscient?
00:46:32.05\00:46:34.32
Is your God sovereign?
00:46:34.36\00:46:36.16
Is your God without compare?
00:46:36.19\00:46:38.89
Is your God your Creator?
00:46:38.93\00:46:42.16
It was a Monday night
00:46:42.20\00:46:43.53
and I was with
the women from church.
00:46:43.57\00:46:47.44
And we were at our local jail,
00:46:47.47\00:46:49.50
doing Bible studies to
the women there in the jail.
00:46:49.54\00:46:53.88
And the music swelled as
we approached the refrain,
00:46:53.91\00:46:56.98
"I need thee, O I need thee.
00:46:57.01\00:46:59.78
Every hour, I need thee.
00:46:59.81\00:47:02.18
O bless me now my
Savior, I come to thee."
00:47:02.22\00:47:05.99
There was never enough
room in the little cell,
00:47:06.02\00:47:08.99
a cement block wall cell
00:47:09.02\00:47:10.69
that we had our
Bible studies in,
00:47:10.73\00:47:12.96
and so the girls would
sit four across on the desk.
00:47:12.99\00:47:15.66
And then they
would line the wall.
00:47:15.70\00:47:17.27
Sometimes they would sit
cross-legged on the floor.
00:47:17.30\00:47:22.84
And we always
sang, and then we prayed.
00:47:22.87\00:47:26.14
And then we would
begin to share something
00:47:26.17\00:47:29.14
from the Word of God.
00:47:29.18\00:47:30.51
And this particular
night I asked them to share
00:47:30.55\00:47:32.21
about the temptations
that they had each experienced.
00:47:32.25\00:47:35.62
And they went
around and I was struck
00:47:35.65\00:47:37.49
as they talked
by the similarities
00:47:37.52\00:47:39.45
between those temptations.
00:47:39.49\00:47:41.72
Now they might
not sound similar.
00:47:41.76\00:47:43.49
It was food, and fear,
00:47:43.53\00:47:44.99
and anger, and
cutting, sex, drugs,
00:47:45.03\00:47:48.50
they don't sound similar,
00:47:48.53\00:47:49.86
but there's the
same emptiness inside,
00:47:49.90\00:47:52.53
the same void that was inside
00:47:52.57\00:47:55.17
that they were
struggling desperately to fill.
00:47:55.20\00:47:59.01
And I brought to
the jail that night
00:47:59.04\00:48:01.78
these cups that you see
here, colored with crayons.
00:48:01.81\00:48:04.91
The first cup,
00:48:04.95\00:48:06.28
I don't know if
you can see this,
00:48:06.31\00:48:07.65
the first cup was pretty dirty.
00:48:07.68\00:48:09.32
It's covered with dirt,
00:48:09.35\00:48:10.69
we can imagine
it's covered with mud.
00:48:10.72\00:48:12.09
And if you look inside,
it's pretty dirty as well.
00:48:12.12\00:48:15.59
It reminds me
00:48:15.62\00:48:16.96
of how Satan
twists our thinking,
00:48:16.99\00:48:19.39
and he defiles our hearts
00:48:19.43\00:48:22.36
and he smears us
up on the outside.
00:48:22.40\00:48:24.30
He can do a pretty
good job of breaking us,
00:48:24.33\00:48:27.20
a pretty good job
of making us alone,
00:48:27.24\00:48:30.47
putting us in bondage,
00:48:30.51\00:48:32.37
making other people look
at us even with revulsion
00:48:32.41\00:48:35.74
because of the sin
that sticks to our lives.
00:48:35.78\00:48:39.95
Sometimes we try to clean
up, this cup looks pretty nice.
00:48:39.98\00:48:43.62
It looks pretty clean.
00:48:43.65\00:48:44.99
But if you look inside,
it's dirty, it's filthy.
00:48:45.02\00:48:49.16
This reminds me of
hypocritical Christians,
00:48:49.19\00:48:51.99
and people with a holier
than thou attitude who think,
00:48:52.03\00:48:54.93
"I got it together
00:48:54.96\00:48:56.46
and I'm going to do
everything just right."
00:48:56.50\00:48:58.23
But yet the heart is deceitful,
00:48:58.27\00:49:01.10
above all things
and desperately wicked,
00:49:01.14\00:49:03.41
who can know it?
00:49:03.44\00:49:05.41
When Jesus gets a hold of us,
00:49:05.44\00:49:08.34
we might look like this
to other people initially,
00:49:08.38\00:49:10.95
we might look like
there's mud on the outside.
00:49:10.98\00:49:13.18
But if you look inside the
cup, we're pure, we're forgiven.
00:49:13.21\00:49:17.72
We are made new.
00:49:17.75\00:49:20.09
I think the thief on the cross
would fall into this category.
00:49:20.12\00:49:23.83
On lookers, they saw nothing
but a thief who was dying.
00:49:23.86\00:49:26.96
They saw a lot of
mud and a lot of actions
00:49:27.00\00:49:29.23
that they thought
had smeared him up
00:49:29.26\00:49:30.60
on the outside.
00:49:30.63\00:49:31.97
But when heaven
looked at his heart,
00:49:32.00\00:49:33.44
they saw that he was forgiven.
00:49:33.47\00:49:34.97
They saw that he was cleansed.
00:49:35.00\00:49:36.54
They saw that he was restored.
00:49:36.57\00:49:38.17
And of course this
cup represents our Savior.
00:49:38.21\00:49:40.94
Perfect without any
spot, without any blemish,
00:49:40.98\00:49:43.48
outside and inside.
00:49:43.51\00:49:46.41
And I just got to that point.
00:49:46.45\00:49:47.78
And Karen, that's not her
name, but we'll call her Karen.
00:49:47.82\00:49:50.15
She said, "I
know which cup I am,"
00:49:50.19\00:49:52.35
and I said, "Which cup, Karen?"
00:49:52.39\00:49:54.76
And she said,
"This is me right here.
00:49:54.79\00:49:56.93
When people look
at me, I look filthy,
00:49:56.96\00:49:59.09
I'm in jail, I look dirty.
00:49:59.13\00:50:01.16
But I know Jesus
has changed me inside,
00:50:01.20\00:50:03.20
but nobody else can see it."
00:50:03.23\00:50:05.53
And I reached out to her.
00:50:05.57\00:50:07.54
And I said, "You know, Karen,
you may feel like this cup,
00:50:07.57\00:50:09.97
you may feel that you're dirty,
00:50:10.01\00:50:11.44
you may feel that
other people look at you
00:50:11.47\00:50:14.18
in that fashion.
00:50:14.21\00:50:15.88
But you've been
coming to Bible studies
00:50:15.91\00:50:17.25
for many months,
00:50:17.28\00:50:18.61
and we have seen
the change in your life.
00:50:18.65\00:50:20.32
We've seen how you
encourage the other girls,
00:50:20.35\00:50:22.35
and we see how you want to study
00:50:22.38\00:50:23.72
the Word of God
00:50:23.75\00:50:25.09
and even your face has changed.
00:50:25.12\00:50:27.29
From guarded and dark
00:50:27.32\00:50:28.79
to being open,
transparent sunshine.
00:50:28.82\00:50:32.33
When we look at you,
Karen, we see the pure cup,
00:50:32.36\00:50:35.30
pure inside
00:50:35.33\00:50:36.67
'cause Jesus has
changed you but pure outside
00:50:36.70\00:50:39.27
because when God
gets a hold of our life,
00:50:39.30\00:50:41.77
when He gets a
hold of us inside,
00:50:41.80\00:50:44.57
we are transformed
from the inside out."
00:50:44.61\00:50:50.18
How big is your God today?
00:50:50.21\00:50:51.78
I don't know what
bondage you're in,
00:50:51.81\00:50:55.25
what addiction
you struggle with,
00:50:55.28\00:50:57.42
what insurmountable trial
is in your life right now,
00:50:57.45\00:51:01.26
and you're looking at it
with your back to God and say,
00:51:01.29\00:51:03.69
"That problem's too big, God,
I can't climb that mountain.
00:51:03.73\00:51:07.00
God, I can't swim that river.
00:51:07.03\00:51:09.30
God, I can't go
down into the ocean.
00:51:09.33\00:51:11.53
God, I can't do it."
00:51:11.57\00:51:13.94
But if you turn around
00:51:13.97\00:51:15.47
and look at whatever
you are dealing with,
00:51:15.50\00:51:17.71
whatever is in your heart today,
00:51:17.74\00:51:21.28
whatever is dirty,
whatever is defiled,
00:51:21.31\00:51:23.81
our God is able,
00:51:23.85\00:51:25.75
our God is able to forgive,
our God is able to restore,
00:51:25.78\00:51:29.52
our God is omnipotent.
00:51:29.55\00:51:31.65
He is all
powerful, He is omniscient.
00:51:31.69\00:51:35.46
Our God is sovereign,
our God is without compare.
00:51:35.49\00:51:39.43
He is your Creator.
00:51:39.46\00:51:41.13
Will you let Him come in?
00:51:41.16\00:51:43.93
How great is our God?
00:51:43.97\00:51:46.17
Sing with me how
great is our God.
00:51:46.20\00:51:50.51
All will see, all will rejoice,
00:51:50.54\00:51:53.11
how great, how great is our God.
00:51:53.14\00:51:56.95
The splendor of the King
00:52:02.08\00:52:08.42
Clothed in majesty
00:52:08.46\00:52:12.26
Let all the world rejoice
00:52:12.29\00:52:15.33
Let all the earth rejoice
00:52:15.36\00:52:19.07
He wraps himself in light
00:52:19.10\00:52:24.77
And darkness tries to hide
00:52:24.81\00:52:29.01
And trembles at His voice
00:52:29.04\00:52:31.91
And trembles at His voice
00:52:31.95\00:52:36.08
How great is our God
00:52:36.12\00:52:41.49
Sing with me
how great is our God
00:52:41.52\00:52:47.10
And all will see how great
00:52:47.13\00:52:50.93
How great is our God
00:52:50.97\00:52:56.91
And age to age He stands
00:53:00.01\00:53:04.75
And time is in His hands
00:53:04.78\00:53:08.88
Beginning and the end
00:53:08.92\00:53:11.72
Beginning and the end
00:53:11.75\00:53:14.92
The Godhead Three in One
00:53:14.96\00:53:19.96
The Father, Spirit, Son
00:53:20.00\00:53:24.10
The Lion and the Lamb
00:53:24.13\00:53:26.77
The Lion and the Lamb
00:53:26.80\00:53:30.24
How great is our God
00:53:30.27\00:53:34.34
O sing with me
how great is our God
00:53:34.38\00:53:39.75
And all will see how great
00:53:39.78\00:53:43.39
How great is our God
00:53:43.42\00:53:48.39
Name above all names
00:53:51.93\00:53:56.40
He is worthy of all praise
00:53:56.43\00:54:01.74
My heart will sing
00:54:01.77\00:54:04.27
How great is our God
00:54:04.31\00:54:09.28
How great is our God
00:54:12.28\00:54:17.99
Sing with me how
great are you God
00:54:18.02\00:54:23.32
O all the world will see
00:54:23.36\00:54:27.50
How great
00:54:27.53\00:54:30.27
Is our God
00:54:30.30\00:54:37.24
Are you grateful who our God is?
00:54:48.18\00:54:51.52
Are you grateful
00:54:51.55\00:54:52.89
that He's a God
that created you,
00:54:52.92\00:54:54.86
that He's a God that knows you,
00:54:54.89\00:54:57.29
that He's a God
that understands you,
00:54:57.33\00:54:59.83
that He's a God that sees
00:54:59.86\00:55:01.43
in the midst of what
you're going through?
00:55:01.46\00:55:03.93
In the midst of your battle,
in the midst of your trial,
00:55:03.97\00:55:06.53
in the midst of your
Babylonian captivity,
00:55:06.57\00:55:09.90
we could say,
00:55:09.94\00:55:11.27
you could be walking
00:55:11.31\00:55:12.64
through Isaiah
Chapter 40 right now,
00:55:12.67\00:55:14.01
saying, "God,
00:55:14.04\00:55:15.38
I've been in
captivity for years,
00:55:15.41\00:55:17.21
I want to be set free.
00:55:17.25\00:55:19.75
I want to be delivered.
00:55:19.78\00:55:22.28
I want to go home.
00:55:22.32\00:55:24.19
But I don't know how.
00:55:24.22\00:55:25.89
Look at your God.
00:55:25.92\00:55:28.22
Take a look at who your God
is, know that He is omnipotent.
00:55:28.26\00:55:34.56
Your God is all powerful.
00:55:34.60\00:55:36.97
Your God can do anything.
00:55:37.00\00:55:39.23
Your God can walk on water
and deliver you from any trial,
00:55:39.27\00:55:44.01
any affliction,
00:55:44.04\00:55:45.37
anything that
you are experiencing
00:55:45.41\00:55:46.98
right now in your life.
00:55:47.01\00:55:48.81
Know that your
God is omniscient.
00:55:48.84\00:55:51.75
Your God knows everything.
00:55:51.78\00:55:54.72
No matter what
decision you are facing today,
00:55:54.75\00:55:58.99
He says, "I have the answer.
00:55:59.02\00:56:01.39
I can deliver you.
00:56:01.42\00:56:04.43
I can provide you the
solution and the way out."
00:56:04.46\00:56:08.06
Your God is
sovereign and without compare.
00:56:08.10\00:56:14.57
Your God made you
00:56:14.60\00:56:15.94
and He wants to recreate
in you the image of Jesus.
00:56:15.97\00:56:19.74
Would you open up your
heart to Him right now and say,
00:56:19.77\00:56:21.84
"Yes, God, I want to accept You.
00:56:21.88\00:56:24.88
Yes, God, I know I'm dirty.
00:56:24.91\00:56:27.12
I know that Satan has done
a good job of sparing me up,
00:56:27.15\00:56:30.35
but I want to be made whole.
00:56:30.39\00:56:32.69
I want to become pure.
00:56:32.72\00:56:34.66
I want to be changed
from the inside out"?
00:56:34.69\00:56:36.96
And you might think
you've gone too far,
00:56:36.99\00:56:38.59
you might think
you've done too much,
00:56:38.63\00:56:40.50
you might think
you have exhausted
00:56:40.53\00:56:43.26
God's patience,
00:56:43.30\00:56:44.63
but the truth is
00:56:44.67\00:56:46.00
that you have never gone too far
00:56:46.03\00:56:47.57
where He cannot see you,
00:56:47.60\00:56:48.94
and know you,
and understand you,
00:56:48.97\00:56:50.64
and reach you, and redeem you,
00:56:50.67\00:56:54.51
and change you
into the image of Jesus.
00:56:54.54\00:56:56.64
Let's pray.
00:56:56.68\00:56:58.01
Holy Father, we
come before You now
00:56:58.05\00:56:59.78
because we are your children.
00:56:59.81\00:57:01.55
Thank You that
You are our Father.
00:57:01.58\00:57:03.85
Thank You that You are our God.
00:57:03.89\00:57:06.62
We accept You just now.
00:57:06.65\00:57:08.52
We ask that You would
come in, that You would change,
00:57:08.56\00:57:12.16
that You would transform
00:57:12.19\00:57:13.96
by the power of
Your Holy Spirit.
00:57:14.00\00:57:16.63
Thank You for
revealing to us today
00:57:16.67\00:57:19.60
who You are.
00:57:19.63\00:57:21.07
We accept You by faith
00:57:21.10\00:57:23.34
and we ask all this
00:57:23.37\00:57:24.71
in the precious and
the Holy name of Jesus.
00:57:24.74\00:57:27.94
Amen.
00:57:27.98\00:57:29.31