Isaiah Lesson 56

All right, well, let's pray, or do you want to say something first? Can I? Yes, please.

If you're more important than prayer, go ahead. The area we're in, what you call the

New Testament section of Isaiah, and we're in the trial of the idols, if you would, and we're in the middle of that, but where we are today is going to talk about God being faithful to his promise to Israel, but yet he's going to talk about his holiness that demands judgment against sin, and it's going to continue on.

We haven't said who's going to go next week, but we're going to see how

God expands on the reality he's delivered, and he delivers the nation of Israel, and this phrase that says,

I the Lord, I am the one that's doing, we then go into yet, and it's a yet not.

You talked a lot last week about the but, the but God, and this is kind of now the yet not, which is unfortunately how people respond, and verse 25, we could almost spend an entire day on just verse 25, it's an

I am passage, follow it up with still because of sin the nation will need to be punished and purged and cleansed, so that's the big, broad overview of where we are, deliverance from God, yet cleansing is necessary.

Do you want to open us with it? Yes. So Father, we are so blessed to come into your presence and open your word, and we pray that you would meet us here and speak to our hearts and change us from the inside out.

Your word is truth, and we pray that you would sanctify us by your truth. We thank you that you've brought us to the knowledge of the one true

God over against all of the idols of the nations, and we thank you, Lord, that you have revealed who you are to us and your salvation, that you wash away our sin and forgive us of all of our sins.

So thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. So the guys just spent the weekend up at Pocono Mountain Bible Camp.

We had the guy who moderates it all, a guy by the name of Tim Heard, and the words that he has to say, he speaks truth, and then we had three pastors, they each spoke twice, so we had six sessions, and it was really great to hear truth being sent out without compromise.

And then you have this book, Isaiah, and it's the prophet, and as God has led him and inspired him to be giving the word, you think about Jeremiah.

How many years did he minister and saw nothing, the weeping prophet, but proclaiming the word of God.

Then there are these times where we get into a section of scripture, and it starts out with, thus says the

Lord, and it's like, I think I'm going to sit up and pay attention, you know, right about now, thus says the

Lord. We're going to look at verses 14 to 28, we'll do it a piece at a time.

Jeff, you've got Isaiah 43, and we're going to do 14 and 15, Habakkuk 1,

Ralph, I'm going to ask if you would have Habakkuk 1 ready, deliverance promised for Israel, please.

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. For your sake

I send to Babylon, and bring them all down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans in the ships in which they rejoice.

I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. Starting right out with this, he starts out with, thus says the

Lord. All of scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable, all of scripture is.

I believe, I am not a red letter New Testament guy,

I believe all of scripture is inspired of God, whether it's quoting the words of Jesus or not, but I do love it when scripture says, thus says the

Lord. These are Isaiah's proclamations of what God has given him to say, but there's a sense of divine authority behind this.

I like the way often Paul starts his letters, Paul an apostle,

Paul an apostle of God. Now other times he starts out, Paul a servant of God, and there's at least once where he says

Paul an apostle and a servant of God, but there's a sense when he says Paul an apostle that he is standing up with apostolic authority because the things that are to be spoken of, he wants people to know that there's apostolic authority behind this.

Thus says the Lord. Where this stands in direct contrast are perhaps things that the world might want to say.

And if you take the nation of Israel at this point in time, they're on a mighty rollercoaster of listening to God or going away from God and actually turning to idols in the depths of their sins.

And so now we have this phrase here, it's in the middle of this section, on judging and proclaiming the folly of idols, but yet it's the

New Testament section because there's this reality that there is a Messiah, there is a promise that God has always had of redemption through the

Messiah. Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.

There have been times, the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, there have been times that the

Jews would know that miraculously God has redeemed them and carried them through, whether it's

Joseph going down to Israel so that his people would survive, the famine, or whether it is the

Red Sea or the River Jordan, there are these times, whether it's God giving manna and water in the wilderness for 40 years or whether it is the times, the book of Joshua, where how on earth could these people defeat

Jericho and God has continually delivered them. Thus says the Lord, your

Redeemer. This is me speaking to you, I've been with you before and you know the stories.

I am the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel and that's Yahweh, and that's

Yahweh. So pay attention because he's got some things to say.

It is God's intention to deliver Israel from Babylon.

They're not there yet. I find this really fascinating how God is basically telling them,

I will deliver you from Babylon. There are various aspects in history of Babylon that goes back centuries, but more recently

Neo -Babylon really doesn't come into being until the late, well in the 7th century, but shortly before 586, it's like 20 years before that,

Babylon doesn't come into being. This prophecy is at least 100 years before that and he's saying

I'm going to deliver you from Babylon, it's like okay, well, fine. There's a parallel to this almost in the book of Habakkuk.

Now Habakkuk was a prophet in a time when the nation was going apostate and doing some things that were displeasing to God and he says, does anybody, does anybody say

God do you even see what's going on? Aren't you going to do anything about it?

And God's response is, Ralph is going to read us in Habakkuk 1, 5 -7, the

Lord's answer. Look among the nations and see, wonder and be astounded, for I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.

For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation who march through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own.

They are dreaded and fearsome, their justice and dignity go forth from themselves. Chaldeans, Babylonians, one and the same.

And at that point in time Habakkuk sees apostasy, sees evilness and wickedness and wanting

God to do something about it, he says, okay, I've got news for you, I'm going to bring the Chaldeans, the

Babylonians, that wicked and hasty nation and by the way, when it actually happens, so we know from, already we've studied how

Assyria was trying to lay siege and it didn't work because God said, no, this isn't the time, but eventually the

Babylonians are going to come to power and they will be feared and they will be known for who they are, but it hasn't happened yet here.

And so he's already in advance, the test of a prophet is the accuracy of the message, right?

He says, for your sake, I sent to Babylon and bring them all down as fugitives.

This is not a prophecy that he gave to Habakkuk that I will send the

Babylonians to judge the wickedness of your nation. This is a prophecy that I will take the

Babylonians down. So this presumes the fact that they're going to be under the thumb of Babylon, which is going to happen by God's providence, but he says that don't despair because I am

God. And it says in verse 15, I am the Lord and that's, okay, if you go back to where Jeff was last week,

Ego Ami, Ego Ami, he says, I am Yahweh, I am,

I am Yahweh. I am your Holy One. I am the creator of Israel. I am your king.

And that almost takes me back into when the nation of Israel wanted to be like other nations, they wanted a king.

And God's, this, God is saying, I am, I am, I am your king. This is me.

I am the Lord. I am the Holy One. I am the creator. I am your king. And I got news for you.

There's going to be a point in time where you're going to be so in despair because you're going to be in captivity.

He doesn't say it here, but you're going to be in despair. Fret not, I will deliver you.

I delivered you out of Egypt. I delivered you through the Red Sea. I delivered you across the

Jordan. I delivered you when you faced Jericho. I will still be your king and I will deliver you, thus says the

Lord. 16 through 21, if you would. And Exodus 5,

Rich, if you would have Exodus 5 ready, Bob, if you would have Proverbs 5 and Proverbs 3 ready,

I'll just talk to the first Corinthians 10. So give me, please, 16 to 21.

Thus says the Lord. There it is again. Thus says the Lord. I love this. Go ahead. Who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior.

They lie down. They cannot rise. They are extinguished, quenched like a wick.

Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing.

Now it springs forth. Do not. Do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches. For I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom

I formed for myself, that they might declare my praise. This is now

God's, this is again, thus saith the Lord. I am going to do some amazing things for you and eventually as we get down to 21, it's not just for you.

It's for my praise. Oh, by the way, I'm God and everything that is experienced, everything that you do, our chief aim of man is to glorify

God and to enjoy Him forever, right? Thus saith the Lord. And these are some of the things that He's done.

He makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters. And again, I just go back to this reality as the nation was at the

Red Sea and they sensed that Pharaoh was coming up behind him with his, he changed his mind, right?

And then the people were just distraught. Well, God actually creates a barrier where the armies can't come to Him, but then

He parts the sea. He makes a way for the sea, brings forth the chariot, the horse. They lie down and they cannot rise.

And the picture of how God intervened sovereignly with His power where the world appeared to be going to have their way.

No, I am the God. The enemies of God are going to be extinguished like a wick.

Exodus 5, 1 and 2. Bob, do you have that, please? Oh, great. Exodus 5, 1 and 2. Yeah. Afterward, Moses and Aaron went in and told

Pharaoh, thus says the Lord, God of Israel, let my people go that they may hold a feast for me in the wilderness.

And Pharaoh said, who is the Lord that I shall say His voice to let Israel go?

I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go. You will soon now. Does that say that there?

That was the new rich version, the

NRV, but I do like that because here is the thing.

We know from Scripture, thus saith the Lord, listen up, there is truth here. And Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh and they say, thus saith the

Lord, let my people go so that we can worship. And he says, who? It says here that he's going to make a way in the sea and the mighty waters.

Even creation is under his hand, under his ability. The one who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior, they're going to lie down.

They can't get back up again. Even though Pharaoh says, I don't listen to you because I don't even know if this

Lord of yours exists. That's really what he's saying. Who is this Lord? Now they had gods and they believed in their gods and maybe there would be room in their gods for somebody else's

God, but he's not Yahweh and he is not the I am God. Now Moses already knew he was the

I am God back in chapter three of Exodus. Who should I say? I am, that I am.

Okay guys, one, two, three. How do you say that? Ego. Ego.

You guys speak such good Greek. That's Hebrew. This is the

Lord and it says now, thus says the Lord, and he just got done telling the nation,

I am going to take care of those Babylonians. You don't know who they are yet, but I'm going to take care of them for you.

And then he says, thus says the Lord. All of these things. And he says, do you remember all of these former things?

Just go back into your recollection, all of these former things, but don't even think about them.

I'm going to do something even better. I've got a better way I am going to do it.

Proverbs three, five, and six. Yep. I got it. Trust in the

Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding and all your ways. Acknowledge him and he will make your path straight.

Turning your attention and your reality to God instead of the difficulties.

They are going to face some difficulties when they are in captivity. And in fact, a lot of it is self -imposed.

They're going to be in captivity without the temple, without the Shekinah glory. Well, the

Shekinah glory left when they desecrated the temple. It got. That's right.

That's right. That's why it develops in the mountains. And so now that the Shekinah, the very presence of God, is missing.

When they were in Jerusalem, now the door was open and now Babylon could come and defeat them and take them away.

And what they're considering is really tough. And God says, I will take care of these

Babylonians and I will make this way straight for you. And the armies are not going to stand against you.

You've seen it before. I will do it again. And then he says, when it starts to happen, now it springs forth.

Do you not perceive it as an exhortation to watch and see and acknowledge and praise

God when he does it? We were looking in Psalm 92 this morning together and it's like, when

God does good things, do we see it? When God does good things, do we rejoice in it? When God does good things, do we give the praise back to him?

And he's telling them right now, yes, I'm going to get you out of Babylon and I'm going to take care of things. And what you know of before, it's going to be even better.

And when you see it, take heed. I will make a way in the wilderness and the rivers.

And then it says that when all of this happens, the wild beasts are going to honor me. The jackals and the ostriches, aren't ostriches, who is it that sticks their head in the sand?

That's an ostrich. Mine says owls. Yeah, mine says owls. It's like a night creature, I guess. All right, there you go.

And the jackals, I will give water in the wilderness. I'm going to, even creation is mine and it's going to see it and rejoice in it.

And even in the wilderness, in the worst of all places, I'm going to give you water. I'm going to give you water.

I'm going to take care of you. First Corinthians 10, 13, no temptation is overtaken, no trial, no difficulty, but such as is common to man, and God is faithful.

He would not allow you to be tempted beyond that which you are able. But with the trial, with the temptation, with the difficulty, he provides the way of escape.

And that's the message here. There's going to be a time where I am going to relieve you and what's going to be done for you,

I am doing it. And the bottom line is, if you will only, when it happens, perceive it.

If when it only happens, you will acknowledge God that they might declare my praise.

God desires the praise of man. That's an awesome thing to think about, that the self -sufficient

God is pleased at the praise of man. We were last night in 1

Timothy chapter 3, verses 1 to 7, and it starts out with husbands, be subject to your wives, be subject to your own husbands.

And at the end of that pericope, at the end of verse 6, it says, and this is precious in the sight of God.

Now the men's section, it ends up by saying, if you don't do it, God isn't going to hear your prayers.

For the women though, if they are godly women with the qualities of godly women, it's precious.

That doesn't show up often in scripture. But here it says that if you do these things and give praise to God, I believe it's acknowledged, they declare my praise.

Unfortunately, we have the opposite of the but God, starting in this next section, 22 to 24.

Before you do that, Ephesians 2 .4, Ephesians 2 .1 and 3, and you walked according to the course of this world, according to the principal power of the air, the spirit of the

Lord and the children, and in verse 4, but God, but God. And we've been reading in this, in Isaiah 43 .1,

the beginning of this chapter, but, and it's implied, but God, but God.

Unfortunately, this is not quite the same. Give me 22 to 24. Yet you, oops, yet you did not call upon me,

O Jacob, but you have been weary of me, O Israel. You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings or honored me with your sacrifices.

I have not burdened you with offerings or weary you with frankincense. You have not bought me sweet cane with money or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.

But you have burdened me with your sins. You have wearied me with your iniquities.

Wow. But you from God's wisdom, but you about man is bad. Yeah, it really is.

And this is, this is evidence of it. Bob, I'm going to ask you if you would get Isaiah 59 .1 and 2 ready.

I'll talk to the others here. We see the times in Isaiah.

We see the times in Ephesians when the but God just turns the story around from, from the despair and the horribleness to where God just says,

I am still God and I am going to be your God.

And I am going to step in, in Ephesians, it's, it's, but God, and he loved the world and the

Messiah in verses eight and nine, but grace I say through faith that not of yourselves, you know, and to, to, to be able to see that and to almost take a breath and go, there's hope.

There's hope. Now we had just come out of this section where God, thus sayeth the

Lord, I'm going to get rid of those Babylonians. Who? Well, you'll find out. I got, don't worry.

And then, and then he says that I've got plans of delivering you and I will do it so that all of creation can see it and I will be, and then all of, and then there's praise because of it.

Don't even think about how good I was before, because I will be even better in the future. By the way, that's our hope.

As much as we see right now, God's hand and God's blessing, we got a hope because the millennial kingdom.

And then after that, so much more, we can't even imagine how much better it is.

You've got all of this stuff going for you, but you didn't call on him, Jacob, and you've been weary of me, oh

Israel. What brings a people to be weary of the

God who cares for them? Is it that they really wanted their own way anyway and God had,

God had rules. Or their timing. Or their timing.

They wanted things in their time and God's timing wasn't there yet. It's the sin nature.

There it is. Just, you know, God just gets in the way. There it is. God gets in the way because of our sin nature.

There it is. He's keeping them from doing what they want to do. It's lost.

Every time the people stepped up and the king stepped up and brought the people down the path of idolatry and wickedness.

Judgment. Every time. But then the people, the king would bring out the scrolls and they'd read it and there would be a revival.

But then they would fall right back down into it. High hills and low. High hills and low. It's like, yeah,

I'd get tired of it too if that's the way I lived my life. I really would. And he says that you didn't call on me, oh

Jacob. If only the people would call on him. When the people had, in the promised land under Joshua, and they had fought the fight against the

Gibeon. I'm sorry, no, Ai, the second battle of Ai. And he took them up to the two mountains.

And half the people on one mountain and half the people on the other, the Ark of the Covenant in the middle. And they antiphonally spoke of the curses and the blessings of God.

They should get the message, but they don't live it out. They live it out so that they go through these periods of despair and they've been worried, weary of their own

God. And it says that you haven't bought me sheep for burnt offerings. You haven't honored me with sacrifices.

These are the ways that the people would show in obedience that they were devoted to the one

God. And that all of the other opportunities and all the other allurements and everything else were pushed aside.

What does the Lord God want of you? Your heart, that you would be devoted to.

Wanted their people to be a holy people. What is a, give me a definition of a holy people.

What is a holy people? I'm sorry? What is a holy people? Separated.

Separated. That's it. Consecrated. Separated. Consecrated is not a bad word either.

Separated from the things of this world so that your full devotion is towards God.

1 Peter 3, 7, after the instructions to men, live with your wives, honoring them, teaching them how to understand your wife.

Wow, that's a brutal one for guys. Live an understanding of your wife. God bless you.

That sounds working out. We did spend time on that last night, but we came to the conclusion that the exhortation is there is to listen and pay attention.

That's a tough one for guys. Half of you would almost tell me, you're not listening. You never listen. That's very important to us that you listen.

It is. And it's rightfully so. At the end of it, it says, if you're not going to do these things, your prayers are going to be hindered.

What is it that hinders prayer? Disobedience. Sin. Unbelief.

All of that. Sin is what hinders prayer.

So 1 Peter 3, 7, it says, exhort the men what to do. And it says, if you don't do these, it's going to hinder your prayer.

If you don't do these, you're sinning. And that's what the people of Israel have gotten down into is going in directions that aren't.

Isaiah 59, Barb, you got that? Yep. Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor the ear too dull to hear.

But your, but, but, there's the word. Yes, but you. But your inequities have separated you from God.

Your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear. Your sins are what separates you from God.

And so the people here haven't called upon him and they've grown weary of him.

The problem isn't that. The problem is the sin, which leads to all of this other stuff.

And it says at the end of 24, this is, this is a harsh thing. After 21, that they might declare my praise, it says in 24, that you have burdened me with your sins.

With your sin. You have wearied me with your inequities. You know, John, Psalm 66, 18 says, if you pray to God and sin, he will not hear.

That's right. And in fact, actually it says that at the beginning, I think in Isaiah chapter 2. Even your prayers

I don't hear. Even your prayer, because the prayers are empty and meaningless and they're, they're impacted, impacted by sin.

So this, this nation, which has already been told, I'm going to redeem you from Babylon.

They don't even know what that means yet, but it's all good. Sounds good to me. And I am going to, everything that I've ever done before, it's going to be even better.

I will make a way for you, even the wild beasts. And it's all going to be in praise to me.

It gets smacked with the words, but you, yet you. And it ends up with, yet you have burdened me with your sins.

These are God's chosen people. Our lives as believers, on the strength of 1

Corinthians 5, 17, we are new creations. Old things have passed away. All things have become new.

On the strength of John 1, 12, we are heirs of God. All of this is the reality.

We're no longer slaves to sin, which now says that if we're not slaves to sin, if we're going to sin, it's us who's doing it.

We're not slaves to it. We've made a cognitive willingness to go down that path of sin.

And according to 1 Peter 3, 7, and I think women, you've got the same problem as we do. When sin gets in the way, prayers are hindered.

And down here, all of these promises gets down and he says, all of these things you've done, but you've burdened me with your sins and you have wearied me with your iniquities.

To have Yahweh perceive the people in that way had to be very quick into the heart.

Now in God's mercy, he gives verse 25. And this is one of those verses, you guys know

I have a stack of 3 by 5 cards with verses. This is now one of those verses.

Good one to put as a screensaver on your computer, to have on your refrigerator and just, you could meditate on this for a month and not get to the depths of it.

Give me verse 25 if you would. Now before you do that, we're going to actually read all of these, whether we spend a lot of time on them or not.

Carol, you've got Psalm 103. Sue, you have Isaiah 118 if you would. Sandy, you've got 1

John 1 .9. Laurie, you've got Colossians 1 .13. Hebrews 4 .6.

Ralph and Rick, you've got Hebrews 8 .12. I think we could probably spend an entire session just on this verse, but we're going to give it some time.

Give me verse 25 please. And as I read it too, think about how the culture produces this idea that Jesus died because we are so special.

Like, we're so valuable and special that Jesus valued us so much he would die. Absolutely. But that's not the thrust of this verse.

You know, like that song, like a rose trampled on the ground, you took the fall and thought of me above all, as if it was inherently my value that made him die.

This says, I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake.

And I will not remember your sins. These are powerful words.

I, I am he. We've highlighted the phrases up here, thus saith the

Lord, and that should get your attention. But now he kind of ups the ante just a little bit.

And he's just given them the good news and he's given them the encouraging news.

And then he smacked them down, but you did not. And then he steps up by saying,

I, Yahweh, ego of me, I, I am he.

And everything else should come into focus because now we have the reality that it is

I who has blotted out your transgressions.

There is a young man in Kenosha, Wisconsin, who is waiting for the jury to come out.

And there are people in the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, carrying signs.

Hooray for our side. That's an old song from back in the 60s. I know the song.

They want one side, they want the other side. And then the reality coming out of 22 to 24 is,

I'm on scum. Because all of these things that God has done, yet I don't call on the

Lord. And yet, I burden him with my sins and I weary him.

And then God comes out and he says, I'm God. I'm God. Well, it's funny you say that because Rittenhouse means

Dweller of the Swamp. Really? The house. Rittenhouse.

Yeah. The house of the swamp. You said our pomskos, but we didn't think of that. That's good.

Wow. Now that's true. You were a Rittenhouse? My grandmother.

And your grandmother's name? My grandmother. Well, we weren't in Philly when we went to Rittenhouse a lot, but we were a lot of swamp creatures. Yes, we were.

Obviously, all the money's gone. So, no, we don't go there. Yeah. We don't go there. Kyle Rittenhouse, Dweller of the

Swamp, is waiting to see what the jury has to say. And the people, having read this, having heard this so far, get up to the point where it says,

I, I am God. It's kind of like, oh, is there a big hammer about to fall down on me?

Yeah, really. Right. And instead of that hammer, there's a hammer about to fall on Satan.

Praise God. Absolutely. And he said, I blot out your transgressions.

But then his pastor just brought out, it's for his sake. Everything is for his sake.

Everything is for his glory. And he says, I'm not even going to remember your sins.

Now, those who choose to eschew him and deny him, the offer was there, but their sins are going to be remembered for eternity.

But for those that are, let's read some of these verses. Psalm 103, 12. He has removed our rebellious acts as far away from us as the east is from the west.

That's as far away as it possibly can get. Now, some have said he couldn't say north from south because the north ends at the

North Pole. And the south end, once you get to the North Pole, now you're heading south again. Yeah. But you never stop going east and you never stop going west.

It's eternally separated from each other. Isaiah 118.

Come let us talk this over, says the Lord. No matter how deep the stain of your sins,

I can take it out and make you as clean and fresh as,

I'm sorry, and make you as clean as freshly fallen snow. Even if you are stained as red as crimson,

I can make you white as water. I don't care how deep your sins are, the blood of Christ washes it all away so that in the sight of God, you are pure through the blood of Christ.

And it says here in Isaiah, I'm not going to remember them. 1 John 1, 9. Sandy? If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

He is a holy God. Sin must be paid for. It was paid for.

Endemic in this here has got to be the messianic promise of what's going to happen on that cross, because that's the only place it was going to happen.

For the nation of Israel, they would have the scapegoat. And the priest would lay on the scapegoat, the sins of the nation, send it out into the wilderness, and they would have the sacrificial lamb that was done year after year after year after year.

That doesn't sound like I will not remember your sins. That's temporary. There is a permanency that has to happen.

And if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. Colossians? Colossians 13 and 14.

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the

Son he loves, in whom we have redemption and forgiveness of sins. Amen.

It's going to be blotted out. And we were in darkness. We don't have to stay there anymore.

Into his beautiful light. Into his beautiful light. Hebrews 4? No? Yes. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

There are moments in my life where I have allowed the deceit of Satan to take over, and I become wrong.

I was speaking with Jeff this morning, a lot of years ago,

Sandy and I were leading a care group, they called it, at our prior church. And it was a great opportunity, great opportunity to bring the truth and many, many people.

It was awesome. And then one year it got down to Sandy and I had one other woman.

And I felt mad. It was, this isn't right.

What's going on? What's going on here? And it's the only time in my life where God drove me into a closet and onto my knees and said,

I confess, I confess my sin. Throwing myself into his presence with confidence that he forgave that sin.

And he, it's his ministry anyway, it's not mine. But when we sin, instead of getting down on ourselves and saying it's over.

No, the Holy Spirit is going to draw you back to him and with confidence you go to the throne of grace in your time of need.

Hebrews 8. Hebrews 8, 12. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their lawless deeds

I will remember no more. He is merciful. You can take the attributes of God, his holiness, his omnipotence, his mercy is really big.

I need it. We all need it. Pastor, give us the rest of it, 26 and 28, please.

Now, having said this, okay, we've just taken ourselves through a big

S -turn in the road. God is going to deliver us from Babylon. He's going to make the way right, yet you, and then he says, but me.

Now, having said that, there is still a reality and that's that when you disobey

God, there are consequences. Now, he's a God and he's merciful and he will forgive your sins, but there are consequences to sin.

Just because we have a savior doesn't mean we get to sin. Say, that's fine.

No, there are consequences highlighted here. Put me in remembrance.

Let us argue together. Set forth your case that you may be proved right. Your first father sinned and your mediators transgressed against me.

Therefore, I will profane the princes of the sanctuary and deliver Jacob to utter destruction and Israel to reviling.

Bob, you're going to get, I think you're next. Bob, you're going to get Hosea and Habakkuk. Barb, if you would have that ready.

We got a courtroom here is what we've got. And he says, put me in remembrance. Let's argue it together.

Set forth your case. So, we have the people on one side are going to be able to present their case, but God on the other side has got his case.

By the way, we just learned, I am the Lord. Okay. Now, we know his right.

We know everything about him, but let's put it together. Let's talk about what's been happening.

Your father sinned and you are your father's child. That is as true as true can be.

Hosea 6, do you have that ready yet? I don't have it yet. Sorry. All right. I didn't get it. When sin occurs, the transgression of God cannot be denied.

God establishes us. He puts us together, but we quickly forget who he is and sin is the result.

Are you there yet? Nope. All right. Can't find it. Pastor, would you get Hosea 647?

I'm going to put him on the spot now. All right. Please, Carol. Oh, Israel and Judah, what shall

I do with you? Asked the Lord. Wow. For your love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight.

I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces. I have slaughtered you with my words, threatening you with death.

My judgment will strike you as surely as day follows the night. I want you to be merciful.

I don't want your sacrifices. I want you to know God. That's more important than burnt offerings.

But like Adam, you broke my covenant and expelled against me. You're in the courtroom now and he says, you know, your love, it just doesn't really last.

And I sent the prophets and you guys wouldn't listen to them. Just like your father

Abraham, you're sinners. And this is the testimony that the jury's going to hear.

Therefore, I will profane. Your first father has sinned and your mediators have dressed against me.

That, by the way, is the teachers. The people who should be teaching them truth and right and God's way, they have compromised against it.

Do not forget to pray for this man. He teaches truth, he doesn't compromise.

But my brother Satan is right at your door. He wants you. Continue to pray for him so that our mediator, our teacher, doesn't lead us down a bad path.

Therefore, God, what God is going to do, he is going to take the princes of the sanctuary, those very, you know, the ones who consider themselves so holy, and he's basically going to shoot them down.

And Jacob and Israel are going to be taken care of. This is going to happen.

Now the prophet Habakkuk saw what was going on. And he cried out to God, aren't you watching?

And God said, yeah, I am. He said, I'm going to send Babylon, that hasty nation.

And the second time Habakkuk responds in Habakkuk 2, 1 to 3.

Barbara, if you've got that. I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts.

I will look to see what he will say to me. And what answer am I to give to this complaint?

Then the Lord replied, write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.

For the revelation awaits an appointed time. It speaks of the end and it will not prove false.

Though it linger, wait for it. It will certainly come and will not delay. People heard this prophecy through Isaiah.

They heard, thus saith the Lord. They heard the proclamation of, I, I, the Lord. They would have heard the indictment of a courtroom.

And it's going to be a long time before any of this comes to be.

But don't lose sight of it. God is God. At his appointed time, it all will come to be.

Amen. Closing prayer. Father, thank you that before your court, Lord, we do not stand alone.

But we know a mediator. Jesus Christ the righteous, the priest, our Melchizedek.

The great high priest who intercedes for us by his own precious blood. We, Lord, confess that this gift of salvation, the forgiveness of sin, is not for our sake but for yours.

That you have glorified yourself by demonstrating your mercy toward us. A people that you purchase for your own sake.

And you also display wrath towards those who do not believe. And in all these things, Lord, we give you the glory for it.

We thank you because you are so good to us. And we worship you and give you all the praise. In Jesus' name.