[0:00] Well, they have given me more time than usual, so I think I might explain some things that I think will help you understand Old Testament a little bit more, and then I'll preach this message to you.
[0:10] If you want to open your Bible to Isaiah chapter 52 and verse 6, I think there's a great deal of misunderstood Bible because you don't understand what God's been doing since the beginning, so I'm fixing to just kind of give you a real brief run through.
[0:27] You know, when God, God's been a God of grace from the very beginning, and He is a God of grace to the very end. So God has always saved and worked by grace, and man's always messed up everything man's ever touched.
[0:41] Man, every, always messes up. Whenever you read the Bible story, you look for a place where man messed up, then you look for a place where God stepped in and brought grace and did a work and made changes in people's lives.
[0:52] And so in the very beginning, you got Adam and Eve back over here, and Adam and Eve sinned, but the minute they sinned and they're outside the garden, God shows up and grace offers to, He covers their sin and makes them new again and opens a relationship with them.
[1:09] And the human race continues to grow, and slowly they separate from God. And by the time you get to Genesis chapter 6, the whole world is so desperately wicked. Nobody loves God anymore.
[1:21] And by the way, they knew the stories. You see, if you go all the way back to Cain and Abel, Abel knew what offering to bring. Cain knew what offering to bring because though it hadn't been yet written, they knew truth.
[1:32] They knew exactly what happened from Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15. When you get to Noah getting ready to build the ark, he's told to take certain animals for sacrifices. What sacrifices? You won't know about those sacrifices until you get to the book of Exodus and Leviticus.
[1:45] But they knew about them because they just hadn't been written yet. Because God was talking to His people. He never left His people without a witness. He's always working in their lives. And they're constantly rejecting God.
[1:56] So after the flood, you get all the other chaos. And then we are making big leaps. But then we get the nation of Israel. So God comes down and He said, man, I need to work among people. And to do that, I need some special servants.
[2:09] I need to bless the world. And we know that from the New Testament, I don't have these verses, but you talk to me later. I can show them to you. We know that Abraham saw Jesus.
[2:20] He said that. He saw me. He saw me in my day. He saw me. Now, how did that happen? I don't know. That's not my problem. Did he just go back there and show up to him? Or what did he do?
[2:30] Did he take him up and thank him? I don't know what he did. But he saw him because Jesus said that. And not only that, it also says that Paul said he preached the gospel to Abraham. And he did that through what happens in Genesis chapter 12.
[2:43] And so you may say, well, in Genesis chapter 12, I don't see gospel. I don't care what you see. Paul said Abraham saw gospel. And so it's got to be true. Can I get an amen right there? So what happens in there is this group of people and their job is to bless the world.
[2:56] They did bless the world with the Bible. They did bless the world with the Messiah. And they were to carry the gospel and spread the gospel. And they had major ups and downs.
[3:07] They're like people. When you're reading the Old Testament, you remember most of the Old Testament you're reading is really not talking to an individual. It's talking to a nation. That doesn't mean it's not applicable to an individual. But he's talking to a nation, the nation of Israel.
[3:20] Or the nation of Judah, which is a part of the nation of Israel. And he's talking to them. And things finally culminate in David being the king. And, boy, David is starting to look like everything Abraham ever heard about.
[3:32] Abraham had heard, man, I'm going to use you. I'm going to bless the world. I'm going to give you so many kids. And, kids, we were at the IBJM Everlasting Nation Museum or whatever it is in Chattanooga.
[3:44] You probably ought to go look at that. And Abraham's got a tent. And they got Abraham talking through a video. Of course, it's not really Abraham for you people that don't know. So, God could go back to him and he could come up to God.
[3:57] But, you know, he doesn't come to us. But, anyway, Abraham said, I'd like to look out at night and see all the stars in the sky. Because he promised me that's how many descendants I'd have. And if you read the Bible, you know that. It's true. And so, Abraham, it's finally in David.
[4:09] It seems like everything is starting to get where it ought to get. Like what he had been promised. They're great. And their nation's big. And the world is coming. Then Solomon gets on the throne. And Solomon is the wisest man.
[4:20] And people are coming from all over the world to hear truth. Truth that he would have known because of the grace of God. Truth that led him to write the Bible. But, in that time, Solomon begins to get women and things. Two very dangerous commodities for any man.
[4:33] Things will drown your heart and take it away from Jesus. Women will drown your heart and take it away from Jesus. So will men for you ladies. But, anyway, so he's all messed up now. And the nation begins to divide.
[4:45] And before long, you're back to worshiping golden calves. The nation's in trouble. And they've been taken into captivity. I won't take you to Isaiah. But sometimes I think maybe when I'm talking to you about Isaiah, you're not understanding what's going to happen.
[4:57] See, God's been using the nation of Israel all this time. But God is going to get to the place where he's going to stop using them. And so, Jesus will actually say, I'm talking in parables so they won't understand.
[5:09] And then he's going to say stuff like, I'm blinding their hearts and deafening their ears. Because he's not doing that to individuals. Because the whole church will start with Jewish individuals. But he's doing that to a nation. So the nation as a whole ends up rejecting Jesus.
[5:22] And we step into our parentheses. And that parentheses is the church. That's us. That's Gentiles and Jews joined together. You should never. It's actually Jews and Gentiles joined together.
[5:35] It's not even Gentiles and Jews. It's Jews and Gentiles. It's because the whole church starts with Jews. The whole church starts with Jews. You get to the book of Acts. Acts chapter 1 through about chapter 8.
[5:47] Jews. Everything is Jews. I mean, you get some Samaritans in there. And you're getting people from all over the world. But they're proselytes. They're Jews. They're people that joined up in that religion. All the Israelite people in the Old Testament, they're like, God, you don't really love us.
[6:00] Why are you letting us go into captivity? They go into captivity because you can't violate God's laws without getting in trouble. And God made all kind of things he wanted them to do.
[6:12] And every bit of it was to show that they were his people. And the way you show you're his people is by doing what he wants you to do. Like getting circumcised. Like what they did to eat. Like taking care to not work on Saturday.
[6:24] And to worship on Saturday. Like every seventh year they weren't to till their fields. Which no Gentile would have done. So a Jew's working and for six years he's sowing his crops and raising crops.
[6:35] And on the sixth year he's supposed to take that harvest and stop work. And let his land lay still for a whole year. Well that was pretty hard to do. They've been getting rich for six years.
[6:46] And you mean I'm going to have to pull off a year? Because God wanted to say, you don't trust agriculture. You trust me. And God had promised in the sixth year, I'll give you such a good harvest. It'll get you through an extra year.
[6:57] All the way down. But actually he basically gave them a three year harvest in the sixth year. He gave them what they needed for the sixth year to get them through the seventh. And then he gave them enough to get through the seventh all the way to the eighth. Which would be the start of the new year.
[7:08] So it's two solid years that are actually paid for in one harvest. But every one of these people are like regular people are like, I can't quit now. I'm making too much money. I mean I just had a great harvest.
[7:19] Maybe next year I'll get to a big harvest again. And so they violated it. And they did that for 490 years. At the end of that time God pulled them out of the country and put them in captivity for 70 years. Once every seven times 70, 490.
[7:31] So God's getting his due. So now you're in the book of Isaiah. And Isaiah's preaching to the nation of Israel. They don't know that God has his plan to bring the church into existence which will be Jews and Gentiles.
[7:44] And so later on God is going to move the nation of Israel. He's going to put them to the side and say I'm not using you anymore. You disobeyed me so long I'm not going to use you right now. And he brings this new group of people in and they're going to stir up jealousy.
[7:58] The Jews are going to be like why do they get used? And why does God bless them? And they're going to get jealous of what God's doing with these Gentiles and Jews. Jews and Gentiles are together in the church.
[8:08] And they're going to get jealous. And then God's going to bring them back in. And so after a couple of thousand years the Jews are coming back. When Jesus was born they were looking for a king.
[8:19] That's because for all this time back here they've been looking for a king. They had a David and they wanted another David. And there's another David coming. The real David. But the real David, the real David's Jesus.
[8:32] And he's going to sit on his own throne in his own kingdom which will be a Jewish kingdom. He's got all that plans for out there. So when Jesus was born they came to worship the king. But he didn't come as a king.
[8:42] He came as a savior. He didn't come to rule and reign. He came to die and save. And so he's there. And so you need to be careful. This is where you all get into your messed up doctrine.
[8:54] Some of my young missionary friends. It's because Israel, the church is not Israel. No more than a man is a woman is the church Israel. And you know where your transgender mess came up?
[9:07] Because you, trans nation. That's a joke. But it's the truth. Why don't you figure out when God makes distinctions you ought to keep distinctions.
[9:18] When God says a man is a man, a woman is a woman. Jews are one thing. And the church is another thing. Or Israel is one thing. And the church is another thing. That's what happens. So they're coming back. So in Isaiah chapter 15 I want you to go there with me now.
[9:31] And just let me walk you through almost three chapters here. And then we get to the famous chapter. I think maybe next Thursday night we'll be in the famous chapter where Jesus is dying for us.
[9:42] But I want you to see that the God of Israel wants to prove who he is. He wants to prove himself. And he does that by how he takes care of his people. Isn't it a shame that God has to wonder why you don't like him?
[9:57] Isn't it a shame why God has to sit in heaven going, why do they accuse me? Why do they not believe in me? Why do they not respect me? But that's even what he feels. I can prove it to you from tonight's message. Look if you would. Isaiah 52, 6.
[10:08] Therefore my people shall know my name. Well of course they should but they don't. Therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that does speak.
[10:23] I love his phrase. Check it out. Behold it is I. I'm God. Y'all should know I'm God. You should treat me like I'm God. Don't forget Isaiah's already been on a rant because he hates idols.
[10:36] He hates anything that tries to act like it's God. Because there's God and there's nothing else. Verse 7. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that brings good tidings.
[10:49] That publishes peace. That brings good tidings of good. That publishes salvation. That saith unto Zion thy God reigneth. Thy God reigneth.
[11:01] So I want you to learn some lessons tonight if you will with me. Number one lesson. He's what he tells Israel. God didn't move. You did. God didn't move.
[11:13] You did. That's an important lesson. He's talking to Jews. But that'll work for us. Some of us get backslid. Some of us think God's not working our lives. And God's up in heaven going hey wait a minute I ain't moved.
[11:24] I'm the same yesterday today into forever. I didn't move. I didn't change. If there's any difference in our relationship it's you. Look at what he says in Isaiah 50 verse 1. Thus said the Lord. Where's the bill of your mother's divorcement?
[11:36] Whom I have put away. You say I put her away. So where's that? Show me the papers. Show me the papers. Where are they? Or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you?
[11:47] Now I want you to stop a second. That's something they totally understand. A husband has a right to just write a letter and get rid of his wife. And Israel knows she's a long way from where she's supposed to be with God.
[11:58] And she's like God why'd you put us away? And he turns and he says why'd I put you away? Why'd I put you away? And you know from another Bible story that when you get in deep enough trouble financially you can sell your kids.
[12:13] And you can sell your kids to a creditor. You remember a lady who was going to sell her kids because her husband died? And they sent and got some pots and put some oil on them. Remember that story if you do say amen?
[12:24] That's what he's saying here. Look at it. He says of which of my creditors is to whom I have sold you? Now come on. I didn't put you all away. And I didn't sell you.
[12:36] Don't be accusing me. You like to blame me. I didn't do it. Look what he said. He answers his own question. He says behold for your iniquities. Underline this.
[12:47] Have you sold yourselves? We can preach on that about in a week huh? Hey, it's because you sold you. Don't be blaming me. You sold yourself for your iniquities.
[13:00] And for your transgressions is your mother put away. You should underline in that verse. I think you should underline. Have you sold? You have sold yourselves. Have you sold yourselves? They blamed God for the separation and suffering.
[13:14] And God said they did it to themselves. They were suffering the consequences of sin. Not the consequences of an angry God. He actually calls on them.
[13:26] He said I threw you away. Look if you would at verse 2. Wherefore when I came. If you say I threw you away. If you say I sold you. Why was it when I came there was no man?
[13:39] I called and none of you answered me. Is my hand shortened that I cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? You say I put you away.
[13:49] But I came looking for you. And I stuck my hand out and said I'd save you. And you said no. Look at the verse. Is that not what it says? He's not talking to us by the way. But sure is an application for us. God you don't love me.
[14:02] God's like. I think you got that wrong. God you're not trying to be close to me. God's like. I'm not trying to be close to you. Fact is I did come to you. Look at it. Look at the verse. I got excited saying this.
[14:15] I can tell it don't even do a thing for you guys. I love this. He says. I have no power to live. Or have I no power to deliver? Behold at my rebuke. I draw up the sea.
[14:26] I make rivers of wilderness. Their fish stinks. There's no water. And they die for thirst. And if you had your Bible open. I just didn't have time to really show you. If you look in verse 2 and 3. He's like. I am God.
[14:38] Don't you tell me I don't have a power. Don't you tell me I can't do stuff. Don't you tell me that. I am. God. That's pretty good. Go home on that one right there.
[14:50] Will you accept that you are where you are. Because that's where you want to be. He didn't pull away from you. We're blaming God for the consequences of our sin.
[15:01] And my mama. God bless her. She used to. She'd be fussing at me and yelling at me.
[15:12] And she'd take whatever she had in her hand. She'd break it like that. And she'd say. Now look what you made me do. I'd be like. Mama. I'm sitting on the other side of the room. I did not break that. Sometimes she would throw it.
[15:23] And I knew good and well. Catch it. Or I'd get a whooping for it breaking. That's exactly what's going on in this verse. You're like saying. God you did it. And God's going. I didn't do it. You did it.
[15:35] He calls. We ignore. It's not that they didn't hear. They didn't want to hear. That's the first thing. You keep reading Isaiah chapter 50.
[15:46] The next thing you see is that Jesus is a perfect example of obedience. And trust in God. Jesus is a perfect example of obedience and trust in God. Look at verse 5.
[15:56] I know I'm skipping tons. Look at verse 5. The Lord God has opened my ear. I was not rebellious. And I didn't turn away my back. You might say.
[16:07] I don't know who he's talking about there. I think the next verse is going to give it away. He said. You know. God spoke to me. He spoke to me. He opened my ear. I wasn't rebellious. I didn't tell God. Uh-uh. Uh-uh.
[16:18] In fact. Do you remember when he said this? Not my will. Not what I want. How about this? He taught him to pray. He said. Our Father would chart in heaven. Hallowed be thy name.
[16:30] Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. Now look at this verse here. Verse 6. I think you'll think this is Jesus. I gave my back to the smiters. And my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair.
[16:42] I hid not my face from shame and spitting. Jesus said. I'll do the will of God. And I'll die for sinners.
[16:54] I could talk to you about an hour about this. But we don't have the time. But look at this. Would you look at this? He said. I gave my back. That's a New Testament. There's a New Testament correlation. No man takes my life from me.
[17:06] I lay it down. That's what my Father told me I could do. That's what I'm doing. Jesus didn't die because he was a helpless, weakling, sissy effeminate that they put on a TV show.
[17:18] He said no when they wanted to put me I let them because I don't rebel against my Father. He said I'll accept the shame.
[17:30] And look what he says in verse 7. He knows that God's going to help him. And that God will do what's right. He says for the Lord God will help me. Therefore shall I not be confounded.
[17:41] I will not be confused when this is over. I will not be messed up. I won't be at a dead end so I set my face like a flint to go to Calvary and die for you. And I know that I shall not be ashamed.
[17:57] That's all prophecy. That's prophecy. That means that's God telling us in the Old Testament something's going to happen in the New Testament. But in the New Testament they kind of claim these verses if you ever go read the New Testament. And God said, or Jesus said, I'm going to the cross.
[18:12] It might look like I'm getting beat up and hurt and things ain't going good. But don't worry about it. I trust him. He told me to go. He'll take care of things. And that God will take care of it.
[18:24] He knew that he was doing the will of the Father and he trusted him. Look at Isaiah 15 verse 8. He is near that justifies me. Who wants to argue with me? Let us stand together.
[18:35] Who will contend with me? Let us stand together. Who is my adversary? Who wants to argue with me? Come on. Bring it. Behold, the Lord God will help me. Who is he that shall condemn me?
[18:47] They shall wax old as a garment. The moth shall eat them up. He said, I'm going to go get killed and it's okay because I'm doing what the Father wants me to do. I really think there's a big lesson here.
[19:00] Will you trust God no matter what he wants you to do? Because he's a picture of obedience. He's back there. And you know, in the New Testament, he's going to be shown to us as a human.
[19:12] He's the God man. And we know he's going to pray and say, God, is there any way out of this? And the Father's going to say, no, you go do it. He's going to say, well, whatever you want. And he's going to let them beat him.
[19:23] He's going to let him pull his beard out of his face. He's going to let him leave him marred like no human ever looked in the history. That'll be in Isaiah chapter 52, last part of 52 and 53. He's going to be beaten. He's going to carry the weight.
[19:34] And he says right here in prophecy, but I'm not worried about it because I know who's in charge. You and I face all kind of junk all the time. What are you going to do about the mission field? What are you going to do about your tides?
[19:44] You're like, I don't know if I can obey God in that. What am I going to do about this issue in my family? I don't know if I can trust God about that. And Jesus would be like, well, I could. Look at it, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the Father.
[20:03] Isaiah chapter 50, verse 10, if you would. If you really love God and fear him, you have to trust him. You see, you can't really claim to know him if you're not going to trust him.
[20:19] Look at Isaiah 50, verse 10. Who is among you that fears the Lord, that obeys the voice of his servant, that walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God.
[20:33] Some of y'all are not sure whether you're in or whether you're out. You say you fear God, and you say you obey him, but you don't feel like there's any light. You're like, I don't understand what's going on here.
[20:46] I'm not sure about this. And he says, well, trust God. You don't know what's going on. Just trust God. You say there's no light. Just trust God. This is my favorite little word in the verse.
[20:58] Would you underline it? Stay on God. Look at that. And stay upon his God. He said, you don't know the truth of the matter is, if you claim to love God and you claim to obey God and you don't understand some stuff, all you can do is hang on to God.
[21:14] All you can do is hang on to God. That's all that's going to get you through here. I'm not saying any of this. I'm just reading. That's pretty good stuff, ain't it? Look at what it says. The Messiah who just trusted calls on us to trust.
[21:28] I never noticed that before. That's pretty good stuff. Jesus said, he told me to go and die. By the way, when you get to Isaiah 53, he's actually going to say, please the father to wound him.
[21:43] That's going to be a powerful verse. And Jesus is like, yeah, he wanted me to die. Now, I know Jesus wanted to also from other passages. But the whole deal is, he's like, I just trusted God.
[21:56] And that's what I want you to do. That's what you trust God. I want you to stay on him. The word stay simply means to depend on him. It means to rely on him.
[22:07] It's the idea of leaning on God and not leaning on your own understanding. Well, I'm not sure I understand what's going on here. Well, nobody asks you to. They ask you to lean not into your own understanding.
[22:21] Amen? That's a good Bible lesson, isn't it? Lean not on your own understanding. And then God says this. Or Jesus says this. And Messiah is talking through, I think, through Isaiah.
[22:32] But whatever, it's the word of God. He said, you just need to remember who he is. Somewhere along the way, we kind of forget where he got us from. And we forget what we were and where we were when he got us and found us.
[22:45] And we forget his great work and when he pulled us out of the slime pit. Look, if you would, in Isaiah chapter 51 and verse 1. Hearken to me. Listen up. Pay attention.
[22:57] Hear me, you that follow after righteousness, you that seek the Lord. Y'all want to serve God. Let me just tell you what I want you to do right now. Look to the rock whence you are hewn.
[23:09] Look to the place where he dug you out. And to the hole of the pit whence you are digged. That's a pretty nasty picture right there. I am not out of a piece of rock.
[23:20] I'm not some old trashy piece of rock. I'm not in some pit. Oh, yeah, we were. We don't deserve salvation. We didn't do anything to get in here. He went and found us in the trash.
[23:31] He went and dug us out and pulled us out. And he says, I want you to look where God brought you from. It's pretty easy. My dad was an orphan at the age of 14 or 13.
[23:48] His brother's mama died of an illegal abortion. And daddy was on the streets. And he told me one time, he said, there's not a sin I hadn't committed, not a thing I hadn't done wrong.
[24:01] He said, I've been abused. I've been from every kind of place you can possibly imagine, every kind of junk you can ever happen. By the time he was 25, he was a fallen down drunk. And Jesus saved him.
[24:13] I never knew him like that one day of my life. He might have had some issues, like everybody has issues, but my daddy was not that man. And somehow we want to forget where we came from.
[24:24] But Isaiah said, y'all ought to remember where you came from. It won't get so high and mighty acting. You Jews are like, where are you, God? And God's like, you just remember where you came from.
[24:35] I got you. Next verse is going to prove that, by the way. Look where God found you. But by the way, look at Isaiah 51, too. He said, look unto Abraham, your father, and unto Sarah that bear you.
[24:46] I called him alone and blessed him and increased him. Now you look around all you Jews, all you big nation of Israel. You see all these people and you think you're somebody. Can I just remind you, I found Abraham.
[24:59] And he had nothing. And he was a nobody. And I made Abraham. Sarah didn't have kids. And Abraham couldn't have kids. And Sarah couldn't have kids. And I found him. I'm the one that did it.
[25:11] Somewhere along the way, you want to get the idea that you earned salvation. Somewhere along the way, you want to get to think you are the people. And he said, you can't think that I'm God. You're not. Isaiah chapter 51 and verse 3.
[25:27] God has taken care of the Messiah of Jesus and he will take care of his people. For the Lord shall comfort Zion. I wish you'd underline this.
[25:38] He shall comfort Zion. I need you supposed Bible scholars to notice that Zion is a place. It's a hill. It's like saying Stone Mountain.
[25:52] I mean, when you say Stone Mountain, they can't claim that in Germany. It's here. And so for you to try to throw these Jews away, which you do to get to your Calvinism. I should have said that.
[26:05] He said, I will comfort Zion. He said, he will comfort all her waste places. Whose? Zion's waste place. Jerusalem's waste places.
[26:18] Israel's waste places. And he will make her wilderness like Eden. And her desert like the garden of the Lord. He'll make it like Eden again. Joy and gladness shall be found therein.
[26:30] Thanksgiving and the voice of melody. This is the end of the captivity period. They're still having a problem going back home to where Ezra and Nehemiah put together the place.
[26:44] And they're still wondering, God, are you ever going to get us back to the days of David? And here's what God said. Yeah, I'm going to. Yeah, I'm going to.
[26:55] I took care of the Messiah. I'm taking care of you. He said, I'm talking about Zion. In case y'all don't know who I'm talking about. I'm talking about Zion's waste places. I'm talking about Zion's wilderness. And I'm telling you, in the place where the walls were broken down and the temple was destroyed and the city was destroyed, joy and gladness shall be found therein.
[27:13] Thanksgiving and the joy of melody. Now, here's the question. How is your trusting and relying on God? This is for you. Now, that's all Israel. Israel's like, God, I don't know where you are. I don't know what you're doing. And God's like, don't be coming and blaming me.
[27:26] Don't be coming and blaming me. You're the guys who did wrong. You're suffering the consequences of your sin. I still have a plan for you. And I'm going to use you in spite of your stubbornness and in spite of your ignorance and in spite of your rebellion.
[27:37] I'm going to use you. But as Christians, I need to think, this is my application for me. Am I leaning on my understanding or am I trusting the word of God? You have a copy of God's word in your hand.
[27:49] Sunday morning message. You know what the devil's biggest attack is? He hates the Bible. That's why we do so much with it. That's why we do so much with it. He hates the Bible.
[28:00] He hates the word of God. Do you remember where you were when he found you? Can I remind all of us to think back? And those of you who were raised like me in a Christian home, and I've always been in church, you need to remember this.
[28:15] You weren't good. You weren't good. My daddy might have been a drunk, womanizing, drug addict. I never did any of that.
[28:28] But I was as wicked as he was because I was in rebellion against God. And I was leading up with us, and I need to never forget that. That's why I can't judge anybody else. Do you ever, do you remember where you were found?
[28:40] Do you see what he and his grace have done in your life? You need to look back and realize God's done great stuff in you. God's been at work in your life. God's showing his power in your life.
[28:51] Let me get Isaiah chapter 51 verse 11. Isaiah chapter 51 verse 11. God will return his people to their land. Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with singing undesigned.
[29:06] We sang that in Spanish. And everlasting joy shall be upon their head. They shall obtain gladness and joy. And sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
[29:17] You got your Bible open? Circle the word Zion. See, we're talking about those Jews again. We might sing that song in Arequipa and think of it as a church.
[29:30] But the redeemed of the Lord here, that's Israel. And God's going to bring them back to their place. You see, they've been over in Babylon and they've been in captivity. And God is going to put everlasting joy on their head.
[29:42] They will obtain gladness and joy. And sorrow and mourning shall flee away. That's a promise to Jews. You have to understand that.
[29:55] This is an Old Testament book. And this is a book written to Hebrews, followers of God. That's to us too. But God's got a promise to them.
[30:06] He's going to return them to Zion, to Jerusalem. And God wants his people to pay attention. It's clear who he's talking to. Isaiah 51.4. Look at your Bible.
[30:17] Hearken unto me, my people. Underline that. My people. Who's my people? Israel. Give ear unto me, my nation. We are not the nation.
[30:28] We're the church. My people, my nation. For a law shall proceed from me. I will make my judgment to rest for light of the people. God's calling on his people, the Jewish people, that believed him to pay attention to his promises.
[30:45] God wants his people to know that they can trust him. And they don't have to be afraid of Babylonians. They don't have to be afraid of anybody. They can look to God. Look at Isaiah 51.12.
[30:57] I, even I, am he that comforts you. I wish you'd underline I, even I. God's like, hey, it's me. I'm God.
[31:09] I'm the one doing stuff. I'm the one that comforts you. Who are you? Who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass? God's like, what are y'all doing being afraid of Babylonians for?
[31:23] They're just humans. They're going to die. But I, I'm the one. You see, what we end up doing is we look at men. We look at our problems and we forget that we wrestle not with flesh and blood.
[31:37] And it's not these people. That's exactly what happened when the 12 Hebrew, or when the 12 spies are going in and 10 were bad and two were good. You know the story. And they went in. And 10 of them saw men and two of them saw God.
[31:49] 10 of them said, boy, they got big men. And two of them said, they're like bread you can eat. You won't even need a knife to cut this. Just take a bite. Because God's with us.
[32:00] And the God who's with us can take them out. And here's what Isaiah said. What are y'all doing? What are you doing? You're comparing me to Goliath? He's a man.
[32:12] I am God. You don't need a preacher to comfort you. I am your comfort. That's a pretty good verse. Just saying. That's a pretty good verse. God wants his people to know that he keeps his word.
[32:26] You believe God? You believe his word? You trust he'll do what he said? Let me take you to Isaiah 51, 13. Then he said, well, don't forget me. Because they do.
[32:38] What do God's people do all through the Old Testament? And what do you do? And what do I do? Boy, when I get in trouble, I get a hold of God. And when things get better, I forget who did all of it.
[32:52] When God pulls me out of the slime pit to do something with me, I love God. Two or three weeks later, I'm like, man, I got out of that slime pit on my own. I pull myself up my own bootstraps.
[33:04] I worked harder than anybody. Look at what he said in verse 13. And forget us, and you forget the Lord your maker. By the way, he's not just our maker, maker.
[33:17] He's our maker, maker, maker. You say, what in the world does that mean? Well, he made you and created you. But he said this to Israel. I found Abraham, and he didn't have nobody with him. And I made you people of nation.
[33:27] So don't forget, I am your maker. I'm your maker because I created you. But I'm also your maker because I made a nation out of you. Y'all got your eyes on the wrong thing. It's me doing all this. Do you understand?
[33:38] You didn't bring about your great marriage. God did. You didn't get rid of your sin. God did. You didn't build a church. God did. Men didn't make a Bible.
[33:48] God did. And that's what God said. He said, quit forgetting me. I'm the guy that stretched forth the heavens. I'm the guy who laid the foundations of the earth. Go with me to Isaiah 51, 15.
[34:02] They were afraid of their enemies because they couldn't believe their all-powerful God. I am the Lord thy God. You should underline that. I know it's English and that's not Hebrew or anything, but he likes I am.
[34:16] That's what he told us his name was. He said, I am. I am the Lord thy God. I'm the one that divided the sea whose waves roared.
[34:26] You remember how y'all got across the Red Sea? That's me. He still wants you to remember, I'm a good God. I've been doing a lot of stuff. When's the last time you said thank you? The Lord of hosts is his name.
[34:40] Verse 16. I have put my words in your mouth. I have covered you with the shadow of my hand that I may plant the heavens and lay the foundation of the earth and say undesigned, y'all are mine.
[34:53] You are my people. Thou art my people. I think one of the sweetest days of my life was August the 18th, 1973.
[35:10] We walked into a little apartment, changed out of wedding garb and took off on our little honeymoon, which was a great honeymoon. We went all the way to Calhoun, Georgia from Rome, stayed in the Holiday Inn.
[35:21] I was tired, needed some sleep. If you get my Mina. But that day I felt like she loves me and she accepted me.
[35:32] It was like the greatest thing in the world. And here's what God says, y'all are mine. So he told Israel, thou art my people. You should underline that. In the New Testament, he's going to say a lot of crazy things too.
[35:46] He's going to even say stuff like, I got a secret name for you. He's just, he loves you. He loves you. What a God. They can know that God's going to judge their enemies.
[36:00] Look at Isaiah 51, 23. I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee, which have said to thy soul, bow down and go over. I will put it into the hand of them. I will take care of them.
[36:12] Look at verse 50, that was 51, 23, 52, 6. Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore they shall know in that day. I am he that does speak. It is I.
[36:25] And then he uses a verse that Paul's going to use in the New Testament about preachers. But he uses it about the people. It's like he's saying, Isaiah's saying, y'all should pay attention. I've got good news. Look at it. He says, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that brings good news, good tidings.
[36:40] That publishes peace. That brings good tidings of good. That's even funny the way it's written. Good tidings of good.
[36:51] He got good news of good stuff. I like that personally. He publishes salvation. That meant he was going to rescue his people. So he tells them, verse 9, y'all break forth into joy.
[37:06] Start singing. You waste places of Jerusalem. For the Lord hath comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem. I'm pretty sure it hasn't happened yet. But it's about to.
[37:18] And it will happen in the future. The Lord hath made bear his holy arm in the eyes of the nation. And God says this. And by the way, when they see what I do with my people, they'll all know I'm God.
[37:28] But I've got one more verse and I'm done. You remember when God and Moses had a conversation and God said, I'm fed up with these people.
[37:42] I'm going to get rid of them. And Moses said, nope, nope, nope. You can't do that. You know who you are. You're a good God. Do you really want everybody talking about how bad you are? Do you want everybody talking about how you got them out of Egypt, got them in the wilderness, couldn't take care of you?
[37:55] You really want that? And God goes, all right, I was going to wipe them all out and make a whole new nation with you. But you're right. I've got to remember who I am. I know y'all can say, I don't think that conversation happened.
[38:06] I do. It's in the book. So I'll just accept it. Amen. And here's what God said. He says, are you ready? You just got to like this. Verse 10. The Lord hath made bear his arm in the eyes of all the nations.
[38:18] And all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Now, I know they're going to see the salvation of our God when the gospel is preached. But can I tell you what that's about? He's going to bring Israel back.
[38:30] And he's going to do big, big, big, big stuff with Israel. And people are going to be like, how could you do something with that puny little nation? We don't even like them. They've been causing trouble for generations. Since the 40s, 1940s, they've been causing trouble.
[38:42] And you shouldn't do that. And God's going to say, I gave my word. I said I was going to do it. Check that arm right there. Strong arm. And I will do it. And you'll know then that when I make a promise in Genesis 12, I keep it all the way to Revelation.
[38:57] He wouldn't keep his promise to Israel. He wouldn't keep it to you. God is at work and does not want to be forgotten. They were afraid of mortal men more than they were of God.
[39:09] And sometimes our enemies scare us because we see them as big and we see our God as small. And God has sent good preachers to us and brought us a message. We should believe that message.
[39:22] And that ought to fill our hearts with joy. Every one of the things I read at Unite was a promise to Jewish people. But every one of them spilled right over onto us. Because God keeps his word to us.
[39:33] Don't you dare forget who he is. Don't you dare forget who he is.