Isaiah Lesson 45

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Isaiah: Prophet of the Suffering Servant Lesson 45: Isaiah 35 Pastors Jeff Kliewer and John Lasken

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Heavenly Father, thank you so much for the opportunity to come to this place, gather together as your people, to open your holy word and hear from you.
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God, here are we on earth, you are in heaven, so we'll let our words be few. Let your words be many to us,
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Lord God, that we would hear your word and be changed by it. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
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Recall when Jesus went to the synagogue in his hometown. He was asked to speak and he turned to Isaiah chapter 61 and he began to read from that text.
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However, if we turn to Isaiah 61, we can go there now, verses 1 to 3, as he was reading, he abruptly stops halfway through the passage.
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Rich, would you read for us Isaiah 61? Isaiah 61, okay,
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I didn't know what you were trying to read, what happened? Oh, I'll read it while you find it. I got it. Oh, you got it? All right, go ahead.
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1 to what? 1 through 4. 1 through 4, okay. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the
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Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners, to proclaim the favorable year of the
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Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of the spirit of fainting.
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So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planning of the Lord that he may be glorified.
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Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, they will raise up the former devastations and they will repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.
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Very good. So when Jesus goes to read this, he stops rather abruptly at a particular point.
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Why do you think he did that or stopped where he did? He stopped after the first coming, the next part is regarding the second coming.
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Very good. Rich, you're on a point, brother. You know it. This is where I'm going with this. Jesus understood that in his first advent, there were certain things that he would accomplish.
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In his second advent, there were other things that he would accomplish. And so in his first appearing, he did open blind eyes and heal deaf people, but not all deaf people, not all blind eyes.
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When he came to the man who was by the pool of Siloam, there were many there who needed healing.
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And yet he went to that one and brought healing to him and left many others.
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So question, is the kingdom of God already here or not yet here?
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We've got a not yet. Not yet. Not yet. Kingdom of heaven is here.
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So you'll turn for me, if you will, to Luke 11 20. Bob, can you turn to Luke 11 20.
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Carol, if you could get Luke 17 21. Bob, if you wouldn't mind getting
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Matthew 13 33. So the first Bob, could you read
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Luke 11 20 for us? But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.
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Okay. So Jesus says, if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.
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So don't be so quick to say not yet, Carol, you won't be able to say here it is, or it's over there for the kingdom of God is already among you already among you.
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Okay. And Bob, I'm sorry. Matthew 13. You're Matthew 13 33. And he told them yet another parable.
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The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with a bushel of flour and waited until the whole batch of dough rose.
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Ah, so it's like yeast in dough that will work its way through the dough until the whole thing has risen.
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And so we see the kingdom of God growing among men in this time.
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Okay. Let's counterbalance that with the other side of the equation. Revelation 20 we know is the thousand years, the thousand year reign of Christ, the millennium, which is yet future.
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John totally. Could you read Isaiah nine seven and Barb, would you mind getting
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Zechariah eight three? So John, when you're ready, of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.
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The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this on the throne of David and over his kingdom.
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The throne of David will be established in physical Jerusalem with Christ himself reigning as king over Israel and over the whole earth.
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That's yet future. He's not yet seated on the throne of David. Okay. And, um, we need next
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Zechariah eight three, this is what the Lord says, I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem, then
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Jerusalem will be called the city of truth and the mountain of the Lord almighty will be called the city of truth, the holy mountain, which is now not a city of truth.
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Most of the people there do not believe the good news and it's not a holy mountain. It's very much in opposition to many of the things of God.
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And I will return to Zion, so it refers to the second coming.
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So the answer to the question, is the kingdom of God already or not yet is yes, it is already in one sense and not yet in another, the kingdom of God can be pictured kind of like a telescope, which can fold within itself and a telescope can show you a picture of something that's near and something that's far, but looking from a distance, you sometimes can't tell a distinction between the two.
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For example, if you're looking at a distant mountain peak, one over the other, as you see it from far away, look like they're right on top of each other.
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But as you climb that first mountain, you can see that way off in the distance is that second mountain peak.
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So they're collapsed together when you see them from far away. That's what we have in Isaiah 35.
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So let's go there. This is a picture of the coming kingdom, but you see pictures of Christ's first advent as well.
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In Christ's first advent, you see the blind eyes open, deaf people hearing, the lame walking, all of these miracles that are associated with the coming of Christ.
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It's just that the first advent and the second advent are not distinguished in this chapter.
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By future revelation, as we progressively learn more in time, when Christ comes in his first appearing, we learn that he doesn't immediately establish his kingdom reign over the earth.
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He comes to save individual sinners, to plant the kingdom among us and in us.
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Now in that verse that we read, I think it was Carol that read it, the kingdom of God is among you, is the right translation.
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Some have translated it, I think the NIV, within you, but recognize in that passage, he is speaking to the adversaries, the
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Pharisees. So he's not telling them that the kingdom is in them. He's saying it's among them. It's in the
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Christians who are becoming believers. The kingdom is established in our hearts and we're planted in this world like leaven to spread out throughout the earth and in some sense be salt and light in this world, even it gets worse and worse near the end and then the future coming kingdom establishes righteousness.
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This 35th chapter of Isaiah is like the climax of the first half of the book.
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All of the judgments that began with the table of judgments back in Isaiah 14, the coming
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Assyrian onslaught, all of the horrible promises of the coming tribulation that we just read about in chapter 34, all of these reach their resolution in the coming kingdom.
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This is a picture of the millennium with parts of that established in the first coming of Christ.
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So let's actually just today read through the 10 verses to get the big picture. It's a beautiful, climactic, joyful picture of salvation and the millennial kingdom.
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Who would like to read the whole 35th chapter nice and loud?
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I will. Do it, Rich. The wilderness and wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose.
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It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice. Even with joy and singing, the glory of Lebanon shall be given.
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The excellence of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the
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Lord, the excellency of our God. Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees.
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Say to those who are fearful -hearted, be strong and do not fear. Behold, your
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God will come with vengeance, with a recompense of God, he will come and save you.
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Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
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Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing, for waters shall burst forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
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The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water.
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In the habitation of jackals, where each lay, there shall be grass with weeds and rustle.
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A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the highway of holiness.
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The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray.
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No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it.
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It shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransom of the
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Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads.
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They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sin shall flee away.
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The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad. The desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus.
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It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
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They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God." So here in the
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Millennial Kingdom, we will see even the desert wastelands bursting with life.
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It's like the whole world will become the Garden of Eden. It's returning to that original design that God had in His creation.
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Lebanon, anybody familiar with the Cedars of Lebanon? There's much reference to them in the
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Old Testament. Weren't they used to build Solomon's Temple? Used to build Solomon's Temple, yes. Even to this day, some of the trees of Lebanon can reach 200 feet tall.
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Those are some big trees. There are trees in Lebanon today that were growing at the time of Christ.
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Now over 2 ,000 years old, the Cedars of Lebanon. These glorious, giant trees now in the desert wasteland.
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Now, if any of you grew up in the wilderness, maybe the wilderness of Pennsylvania, you think of the wilderness as being, you know, trees and just undeveloped.
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It's where the developers haven't yet chopped everything down, right? But in Israel, the wilderness is a barren wasteland.
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It's sand. There's no life there. And here it's saying, even the wilderness, the dry land, shall be glad.
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The desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing.
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Is this a promise for today or for the yet future kingdom? Well, we know that when
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Israel came in, they changed these malaria wastelands into gardens. Don't you love this guy?
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Everything I'm about to say, he just says it. You always jump a little ahead of me, which is great because we're on the same wavelength here.
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It is, of course, a picture of the millennial kingdom. But even as a first fruit taste of that, since 1948, when
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Israel got back the land, there are wastelands that they did nothing to fix that are now blossoming with vineyards.
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I watched a documentary with one of my really good friends, Bill Luebkeman. And he loves this documentary.
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He shows it to everybody. It's really like a tourism video for Israel. But it also interviews
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Israelis about their lives and everything. And my friend Bill, he loves
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Israel so much that when he watches this, every single time he cries. So I'm watching with one eye.
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I look over there to see if he's crying yet. Yeah, he's crying. He loves Israel. But one of the guys they interview in this documentary is a vineyard operator.
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And what he's done, he says, when we inherited this land, we came back, we did nothing to change it.
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We didn't change the soil. No one believed that this soil could ever produce fruit.
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And yet it began to blossom. And then they began to seed it more and to cultivate and till and do what they could to it.
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But what was seemingly impossible took place. Now, this paragraph here, I'd like to read you from the
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Times of Israel. Dangling off vines at the
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Har Baraka settlement in the West Bank, which is that disputed territory where the Palestinians still think that they have ownership over it, despite the war of 1967 and all the things of that nature.
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The grapes are plump and ready to pick. This year, evangelical
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Christians are volunteering for the job. Missouri -based Hayovo organizes faith -based volunteering for Christian backers of Israel.
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Our mission is to take an active role in and educate people about the prophetic restoration of the land of Israel that is happening today, it says.
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So Christians take mission trips from America and go to this vineyard and provide the free labor to pick these plump grapes from this vineyard and bring in the harvest.
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That is a picture of the coming kingdom. One of the main importers of fruits in the world.
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Exporters. Exporters, yeah. Yeah, they're exporting these grapes around the world. It's true.
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So the promise of Isaiah 35 is not yet, okay?
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We're not yet seeing Garden of Eden -like conditions. But we're seeing, in a positive sense, kind of the opposite of the birth pangs.
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You know the birth pangs like the Braxton Hicks contractions that you begin to feel, a woman would begin to feel prior to going into labor?
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In the same way, before the coming of Christ, there will be birth pangs. Even before the seven seals are broken, we'll begin to see the signs of the times and all these terrible things happening in the world.
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But on the flip side of that, we see Israel restored in her land. And the land itself is transforming right before their eyes to be one of the great exporters of fruits.
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This is Isaiah 35 in foretaste. Just a foretaste of the coming kingdom.
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Okay? It's happening. The wilderness. The dry land. Blossoming abundantly.
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The glory of Lebanon. The majesty of Carmel and Sharon. The roses of Sharon that were so famous.
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The lush vegetation of Mount Carmel where Elijah went. They shall see the glory of the
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Lord. The majesty of our God. So the first thing here is topographical change where the ground itself now is returning to Garden of Eden like conditions.
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Next. Verses three and four. What are we to do with this promise? Well, we're to hold on to it as an encouragement to the soul.
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Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. You might recognize that from Hebrews 12, 12 when the
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Christian is getting beat down in this world. And sometimes has erred.
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We all stumble and we all fall into sin. And when we do that, what does our loving Father do for us? Not first.
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In Hebrews 12, he punished. Well, he disciplines us. Not punishes us because that's all accomplished in Christ.
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But he'll discipline us for our good. A loving father chastises the son who he loves.
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But after that discipline, he doesn't crush us under it. He lifts us up. And he strengthens our weak knees and our feeble hands.
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And he encourages us. And so this is seen in Isaiah 35, 3. Hebrews 12, 12 is a quote.
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Strengthen the weak hands. Make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, be strong.
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Fear not. Now, if we stop there, it would almost be like, well, okay. I mean,
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I'm anxious and you're just telling me, don't be anxious. Yeah, be strong. Don't fear. But the verse doesn't end there.
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Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God.
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So this is toward the wicked people and the sinfulness that makes the world the way it is. But look at what else it says.
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He will come and save you. He will come and save you.
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So the exhortation is be strong. Don't be afraid. He's coming.
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He's coming on the clouds and all the world will see him. He's coming to establish a kingdom in righteousness.
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And all of the sin and pain will be no more. You have nothing to fear. This weeping is only short lived.
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It endures for the night. Joy comes in the morning. Nowadays, we live in a society that is really paralyzed with fear.
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Anxiety disorders are diagnosed every day by the thousands. And the solution to all of these anxiety disorders, from mild
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OCD to extreme debilitating OCD and forms of anxiety and fear is cognitive behavioral therapy and exposure response therapy.
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Little by little, exposing people to the things they're afraid of. Working with people to think differently.
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And then medication. Taking the edge off the fear by prescribing something that will suppress the dopamine or produce chemicals in the brain that just make kind of take the edge off of a person.
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Yeah, maybe. Yes. Sometimes there's profit motives in that. The world clamors for solutions to the anxiety of the people of this country.
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Not so with the Christians. We have an answer that the world doesn't have.
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We can say by the authority of God's word. See, look at verse four. It doesn't just say to the anxious heart.
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It says, say to the anxious heart. So you are hearing the book of Isaiah this morning.
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You've taken your time to be here. Do you know that God is equipping you to encourage the brethren?
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You have a word to say. I've used this since I studied it this week. I think three times with anxious people that have come into my office.
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Anxious about the government overreach and how things are getting so bad in the world.
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And this theory and all kinds of conspiracy theories. Some of them are actually conspiracy realities.
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They are happening. Some of them are not. And people get carried away with fears and anxieties.
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But I've used this verse. I've said, be strong. Fear not. And then
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I quote this verse. Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With the recompense of God. He will come and save you.
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We have to turn people's minds away from the fearful things. And to the
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God who's coming. Back to Christ who's coming on the clouds. Along with that. Yes. Look what you're saying.
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Philippians 4 says. Yes. Be anxious for nothing but everything. With thanksgiving.
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Yes. Amen. And that also is one
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I go to a lot. Philippians 4. Brothers, do that for each other. Sisters, we have anxiety in this church.
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And in your families. And so many people struggling with anxiety. Did you know that the
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Bible gives the command. Do not fear. 366 times.
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And what's with that? I'll be with you. The promise that goes with that. I will be with you.
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Yeah. But listen. That's one command. Do not fear.
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For every day of the year. Plus one for leap year. 366 times.
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So, there's a command for every day. Do not fear. Do not be afraid.
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Again and again. We're commanded. We're not to fear. Because when we're fearing. We're looking at the external circumstances.
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The horizontal. But when we begin to look at God. And listen to His word. Remember that He's coming.
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That's what takes the edge off. We don't need to run to medicine. Now, I'm not saying that there's not a place for medicine.
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In certain cases. But as Christians, we run to the word. And we let the word be our comfort.
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Okay? So, yeah. You're talking about. That we can be encouraging one another.
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But we can also speak to ourselves. Yes. According to saying. Don't listen to your heart.
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Speak to your heart. Preach to your heart. So, we can remind ourselves of this. In certain times. That's a great word.
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Yeah. Speak it to yourself first. Yeah. My point is only to say. It doesn't just stop with you. Like take this as an exhortation.
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To go say it to people. But the first person you need to preach to. In all of life. Is yourself.
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That is so true. I find myself saying. When I get like. Look up. Look up. Yes.
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Yeah. Yep. Preach the gospel to yourself. Jeff, are you seeing.
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People in our fellowship coming to you. With. For support.
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With the edicts that are coming out. With having to get that vaccination.
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Or lose your job. Yep. We have at least five people. That I know about right now.
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That they could lose their job. Because they're in nursing. They're in other kind of things. Where they're being told.
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That they have to get it. By a certain amount of time. But their conscience doesn't dictate. For them to do it. And so they're kind of in a.
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Difficult situation. In an anxious spot. That's one of the many things. The masking with the schools.
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With. Is my kid going to be able to go to school? Will he have to wear a mask the whole day?
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And what does that do for the. For the person over a long period of time. Like that. All of these kind of things.
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Can create anxiety. Very anxious heart. So we just have to keep pointing each other. To the king.
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And to the word of God. It is happening. Because I just saw a wah -wah. And a big sign. Wear a mask if you want to enter.
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Really? Wah -wah. A wah -wah is doing it. Or a trot. Yeah. If I didn't.
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I walked in without one. Yeah. Yeah. That's what I do too. Maybe it's the individual wah -wah.
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Maybe. But I thought wow. It's the first time I saw that again. Yeah. So we just must not be anxious.
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Alright. So let's go on to verses five to seven. We're seeing this. The joy.
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And the removal of all anxiety. Now let's look at the physical. Because all of us are also trapped in physical bodies.
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Which are deteriorating. Right? We're like in a tent. That's going to wear out. So. And all of us feel that to varying degrees.
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And as we age that only increases. I know I just shot baskets for the first time. Like wow.
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I just am not athletic at all anymore. I can still shoot though. I got twelve threes in a row.
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I was like I still got this. But there's nothing else there besides shooting. Anyway. Back to the text.
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Five through seven. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened. And the ears of the deaf unstopped.
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Then shall the lame man leap like a deer. And the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
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For waters break forth in the wilderness. And streams in the desert. The burning sand shall become a pool.
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And the thirsty ground springs of water. And the haunt of jackals where they lie down. The grass shall become reeds and rushes.
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Let's read a couple verses about the first advent of Christ. Who will read for me
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Matthew 9 27 to 31. There's also many other examples of Jesus healing the blind.
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I got it. Okay Bob would you read Matthew 9 27 to 31.
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This is kind of the already aspect of the kingdom. When he was here in the person. The king was here.
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And so the kingdom with him. He could heal anybody he chose. But it was only individual healings. As opposed to what's coming.
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9 27 to 31. He healed the apostles after he left. Yes. He was able to heal. Yep. Those were sign gifts.
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Yeah. And I have Acts 3 8 is one of the ones we're going to read. It was actually after Jesus ascended. Yeah. Okay 27.
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As Jesus went on from there. Two blind men followed him calling out. Have mercy on us son of David.
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When he had gone indoors. The blind men came to him. And he asked them. Do you believe that I am able to do this?
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Yes Lord. They replied. Then he touched their eyes and said. According to your faith.
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Will it be done to you? And their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly. See that no one knows about this.
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But they went out and spread the news about him. All over that region. I wanted to read on to 30 and 31.
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Because I love that. First of all. Just the beauty of. He touches their eyes. And they see.
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The kingdom is among you. Here's the king. He can touch eyes. And they're open. But he commands them.
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This is the messianic secret. Because of the timing of his crucifixion. He knows the timing.
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He's orchestrating all that. And so he says. Don't yet go out proclaiming.
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And yet they're so filled with joy. Over what's happened to them. That they can't help but speaking.
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They go out preaching. Now we're the opposite. Right. We're commanded to go tell it on the mountains.
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Go to the highways and byways. And invite people to come in. And how often we fall silent.
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We should be like the healed blind. Because indeed we were healed. Of an even darker blindness.
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Which is the darkness of sin. Of not knowing God or seeing God. But our eyes have been opened. We see the glory of the king.
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The beauty in the face of Christ. 2nd Corinthians 4 .6. And so we should go out preaching.
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Because we're commanded to. All right. Mark 7 .31 -37.
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Who would like to read Mark 7? I will.
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Okay. Thank you Carol. 31 -37. Jesus left Tyre. Is it
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Tyren or Tyre? Tyre. And went to Sidon. Then back to the Sea of Galilee.
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And the region of the Ten Towns. A deaf man with a speech impediment. Was brought to him. And the people begged
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Jesus. To lay his hands on the man. And to heal him. Jesus led him to a private place.
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Away from the crowd. He put his fingers into the man's ears. And then spinning onto his own fingers.
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He touched the man's tongue. With the spittle. And looking up to heaven. He sighed and commanded.
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Be open. Instantly the man could hear perfectly. And speak plainly. Jesus told the crowd not to tell anyone.
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But the more he told them not to. The more they spread the news. For they were completely amazed. Again and again.
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They said everything he does is wonderful. He even heals those who are deaf and mute.
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Isn't that a great visual? He goes to the deaf man. With the speech impediment.
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And the first thing he does. Is he sticks his fingers in his ears. Can you imagine? And then he spits.
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Which your translation says. Spits on his own fingers. We're not sure exactly if he spits. And then touches.
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But in either case. He's not too concerned about a coronavirus. He's spitting. And then touching the very tongue of the person.
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He has healing in himself. He touches the tongue. Of the man with the speech impediment.
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Doesn't your heart just go out to someone. They're deaf. They can't speak because of this impediment.
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And all of a sudden. Their tongue is loose. The tongue was made for praising
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God. Ears were made to hear his voice. Your eyes were made to see his glory.
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And now. He's making that new and whole. And this man is released. To preach.
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And what does he do? Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them.
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The more zealously they proclaimed it. You just can't stop them. From preaching.
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They were astonished beyond measure. Saying he has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.
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Alright, let's look at Acts 3 .8. So, thank you
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Barbara. Acts 3 .8. They're talking about a man who couldn't walk.
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Right, a lame man. He jumped to his feet. And he had to walk. Again, another one of the just incredible visuals.
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That the Bible gives us. Jesus touching ears. Spitting and touching a tongue.
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To open it. Here, after the man is healed of being lame. He's walking and leaping.
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And praising God. Just picture him like a little kid. Just bounding along. Testing these new legs that he has.
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And for all those who have ever been paralyzed. Or had a son who was paralyzed. You just.
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Your heart goes out to this person. And you feel his joy. The kingdom of God has come upon.
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And now he's just leaping. And walking and praising God. What a beautiful picture.
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And then lastly. Matthew 9 .32. Matthew 9 .32.
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Who would be willing to read that for us? Thank you. As they were going away.
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Behold the demon. Oppressed man. Who was mute.
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Was brought to him. And do 33 as well, I'm sorry. And when the demon had been cast out.
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The mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled. Marveled saying. Never was anything.
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Like this seen in Israel. Again you have this comment. When the mute man speaks.
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He had a demon as well. So the demon is cast out. The mute man speaks. And what is the reaction?
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This is utterly unique. Never has anything like this been done.
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In Israel before. It is a token. It is a sign. Of the kingdom of God.
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That this is more than a prophet. This is the king. Back to Isaiah 35. This is.
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In my understanding. There were four messianic miracles. That only the
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Messiah. Could do. And one of those. Was this.
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Healing a demon possessed. Deaf mute. That was one thing
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I was reading. It said that the. The way that they would cast out demons. Is they would ask the demons name.
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And then the rabbis. Could cast it out by its name. But when there was mute person.
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They did not know the name. So they had no way to cast out the demon. That is interesting. So only the
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Messiah. Would have the knowledge to do that. Now where was that tradition written.
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That that was the case. I got it from the. Joe Amaral. The Christian roots.
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Or the Jewish roots. Of Christianity. So I do not know that that is spelled out. In the
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Old Testament itself. But the tradition around the messianic. Expectation would have developed.
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To be looking for that. Apparently when something like this would happen. The Pharisees were also excited.
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Because if this is truly a messianic miracle. We need to verify it. And we want to know.
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Is there a Messiah here or not. So almost every time one of those. Is performed the Pharisees.
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Also were on the scene. To try to verify. If this is really a messianic miracle. And they were trying to trip him up.
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Joe Amaral also wrote a book. Called the story of the stars. How the gospel is told.
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In the constellations. That God had planned the gospel. Centuries in advance.
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Like Virgo the Virgin. All that is depicted about Jesus. In the gospels.
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Is in the heavens. So it is not a mystic. There is no excuse for people. Because the signs are there.
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I would be careful with that idea. Because the way the gospel.
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Is presented in the New Testament. Is as special revelation. And a spoken.
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Declared message. That can only be brought. After Christ accomplishes. Real historical things.
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So rather than reading the stars. I do not think they had access to that. I think general revelation of Romans 1.
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Was only enough to condemn. It was not enough to bring the message. So then in Galatians 3.
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Paul rebukes him and he says. Before your eyes. Christ was clearly.
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Portrayed as crucified. And what he means by that. Is the speaking. The preaching of.
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The crucified risen savior. And again in 1 Corinthians 2. The same idea. The foolishness of preaching.
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The message of the cross. So any kind of typology. That you can grab from nature.
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I do not think you should. Go that far with it. It does point to the fact. That men are without excuse.
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How would that make them. Without excuse. Well from Romans 1. Everything that we know. Is observed.
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So his power. His divine nature. Is observed by what is seen.
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It is a good point. So that is the idea of Romans 1. Is that through general revelation. And through conscience.
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That is Romans 2. Every person has enough revelation. Of God's eternal power and divine nature.
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To be found guilty. And that is the concept of Romans. 1 .18 through 3 .21.
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Is that all people are guilty. In his sight because of general revelation. And conscience.
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But it is not enough. That people would know the good news. The good news comes. As special revelation.
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To save guilty sinners. Yeah. That is true.
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That is right. Yeah. So anyway. I wouldn't just get too far with the constellations.
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And how that would portray the gospel. But I have never read the book. So I don't want to go too hard against it. Yeah. So anyway.
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We are back to Isaiah 35. And you see this clear messianic. As Bob pointed out.
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I think rightly. What the Messiah is able to bring in. The messianic kingdom. The kingdom. The millennium.
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In his first advent we see signs of that. The kingdom among men.
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The king is here. He is opening blind eyes. The deaf are hearing. The lame are leaping like a deer.
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You see that imagery from Acts 3 .8. Leaping like a deer. He is walking and leaping and praising
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God. It is here. The tongue of the mute will sing for joy. They can't help but sing.
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They can't help but praise. Even when they are commanded not yet. They are just overflowing.
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With joy. So this is a picture of the coming kingdom. Now lastly. We have about five minutes left for 8 -10.
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It is very interesting here. John would you read this for us. And the highway shall be there.
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And it shall be called the way of holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it.
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It shall belong to those who walk on the way. Even if they are fools. They shall not go astray.
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No lion shall be there. Nor shall any ravenous beast come upon them. They shall not be found there.
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But the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransom of the Lord shall return. And come to Zion singing.
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Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. They shall obtain gladness and joy. And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
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Okay. There is an already aspect to this admonition. So in the book of Haggai.
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The prophet will look to the people and say. Consider your ways. Again and again.
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Consider your ways. You harvest much but you have little. You put coins in your pocket. But there is holes in your pocket.
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And you lose half your coins. Everything seems like there is a heavy hand on you. And a curse.
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Consider what is it about your ways that are doing that. And the answer in Haggai was. You are leaving the work of the
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Lord undone. The temple is in ruins. And you are worried about paneling your house. Your ways are wrong.
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You are not walking in the way. In the New Testament. The Christian church is called the way.
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We are followers of the way. Christ himself. John 14 .6. I am the way.
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The truth and the life. The Pilgrim's Progress is an amazing book by John Bunyan.
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About a young man who comes to saving faith. And he travels the way. He has to follow this road.
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This straight and narrow road. That leads to eternal life. It is the way of holiness.
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And you come into the kingdom. Now that is pictured here. The way. But there is also a literal far fulfillment.
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Where I will say in verse 8. This is a physical highway. To Jerusalem. It will be elevated.
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That is why it is a highway. It will be high. It will be up above. It shall be there.
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It shall be called. The way of holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it.
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It shall belong to those who walk on the way. So those who are born again. And saved.
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Even if they are fools. They shall not go astray. It does not require intellectual ability.
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Which is also the case with the gospel. Not many of you were wise. According to worldly standards.
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We are not the wise of the world. That is not how we came to saving faith. It is not by riches.
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It is not the rich of the world. In fact most Christians throughout Christian history. Were on the poorer end of the spectrum.
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Not many people. Of any kind of worldly influence. No. It is a supernatural gift.
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And even someone who has. Who is considered a fool. A very low
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IQ. They shall not go astray. They are not walking by their own wisdom.
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This is the way of the Lord. Now. No lion shall be there. Nor any ravenous beast.
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All of those. Killing animals. Became carnivores.
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Because of the fall. In the garden of Eden they were not killing. Earlier in chapter 11.
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Of Isaiah. We learned about how the lion. Will lay down next to the lamb. A beautiful picture of the millennium.
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The ransomed of the Lord. Shall return. And come to Zion. With singing.
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Why do I say this is a physical highway? Because in the millennium. There will still be worship services.
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We will go. To the King. Who will be located in a single place.
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Now. God exists as Trinity. He exists as Spirit. But Jesus has taken on flesh. And for a thousand years.
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He will be the King in the flesh. In Jerusalem. We will be near to Him all the time.
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Because the Holy Spirit. Who will be in us. Will be even more.
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Controlling of our lives. The intimacy with the Lord. Will be even closer than we enjoy now.
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So we are always with Him. But there will be marked times. The festivals. Where we will go up to Jerusalem.
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As all of the redeemed. On the way. The highway of holiness. And we will have worship services.
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Isn't that incredible to think about? Now. The book of Ezekiel chapter 40 to 44.
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Is probably the passage of scripture. That I'm least clear about in all the Bible. We'd have to turn to Rich.
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To have great clarity in it. It pictures. A millennial temple. And there's even some indication.
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In those chapters. That there could be sacrifice. Which is hard for me to swallow. And why
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I'm not sure. Because of the book of Hebrews. The Levitical system is now done away with. Christ is the
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Melchizedekian priest. He's offered a once for all sacrifice. He's the great high priest forever.
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Why would there be any sacrifices in the millennial temple? As a memorial. That's the view that seems to be right.
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Because what we want to do. When we take the Bible as a whole. And every individual passage.
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We want to interpret literally. We don't want to just. Read things figuratively. Where there's no reason to do that.
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And specifically what we read in Ezekiel 40 to 44. Of this millennial temple. Never came true in Solomon's temple.
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The proportions are wrong. The dimensions are wrong. The descriptions don't fit. So it looks like a millennial temple.
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There may even be sacrifices. And I'll say may. Because again I'm not dogmatic about this. If there are.
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Sacrifices. They're memorial. Just like the sacrifices of the old covenant.
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Never took anybody's sin away. These sacrifices won't accomplish anything. But remind us.
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Of what Christ did. Because that's the glory of his death.
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We have to understand. That that event. The death of Christ. Is the center point of history.
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Where the Messiah lays down his life for us. And rises from the dead. We must never forget.
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Always remember. The sacrifice of our king. And so it's possible. That there's animal sacrifices.
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As part of that worship. I'm not convinced either way. I'm being honest with you. Rich will help you on that.
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If you need more studies. I know you wrote. Guys some of you don't know. He wrote a book that thick on eschatology.
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A long time ago. He was an assistant pastor at a church. So he studied this at length.
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So I don't say that tongue in cheek. He really does know a lot about that. I'm not 100 % sure of what that will look like.
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But what I wanted to point out here. This is the big idea. We are going up for worship services.
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During the millennium. On the highway. Of holiness. The ransomed of the lord.
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Return and come to Zion. With singing. That's the psalms of ascent.
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When you read the psalms in the 120's. This is what the Jews would sing.
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On their way up to Zion. To worship. We will be singing the psalms. We'll be going up in great joy.
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To see the king in person. Multiple times every year. And we'll gather around the throne.
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And we'll sing. This is before the eternal state. This is during the thousand year reign of Christ. On earth.
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Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. I think there is parallel to the four festivals of Israel.
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But maybe they are somehow changed. They are completed. In Christ. Where? Zechariah chapter 14.
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The last chapter of Zechariah. The nations come up to worship. That is a parallel text.
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Zechariah 14. The nations come up to worship. Absolutely. It's a beautiful conclusion to the first half of the book.
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Next week we'll move on. To chapter 36, 37, 38. Those chapters in chapter 39.
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Are historical. They are about. When Sennacherib and Rav Shaka.
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Come up to Israel. They are talking trash. But then God sends the angel.
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To kill the 185 ,000 troops. It's a historical section. Right in the middle of Isaiah.
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And then we have Isaiah 40 -66. Which is that glorious. Hopeful picture of the coming king.
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With all the messianic pictures of Christ. Jesus said he would call down.
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Six legions of angels. Remember? Six legions would be 72 ,000.
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If one angel killed 185 ,000. 72 ,000 times 185 ,000.
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Is over 13 billion. Which is like twice the population. Of the world.
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That's how powerful one angel is. 185 ,000 troops. Let's close in prayer.
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Father thank you so much. For Isaiah 35. It raises our hope. It increases our joy.
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It helps us to look for your coming kingdom. And to delight in those things. It also takes the edge off of any anxiety.
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We might have in this life. It helps us to be strong now. To not be afraid.
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And we thank you so much for this. Help us now to be ministers in the church. And in the world.
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To tell people do not fear. The king is coming and he will save you. In Jesus name we pray.