The Attributes Of God 'I' for Incomprehensible

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before we start tonight. I have not preached Sunday morning, Sunday night for a long, long time. If you've got your
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Bibles, let's turn them to Isaiah chapter 55. Tonight we're going to be looking at the attributes of God.
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Thank you for coming out on a football weekend. I like sports like the next person, but I don't really want the sports calendar to determine my
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Sunday worship service. Sometimes people get mad if you don't have a certain Christmas Eve service on a certain day.
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Frankly, the only ordained day of worship in all the New Testament is Sunday. It's the
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Lord's Day, and so we want to make sure that we honor Him. We believe here at the church that a good way to honor
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Him, maybe not the only way, but a good way is to have bookends, Sunday morning and Sunday night, where we can get together with the
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God's people, sing great truths of the faith, and honor Him, and then hear preaching. And so I'm very encouraged that we would have a group out tonight to hear the
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Word. My goal with the attribute series is to do 26 weeks. Every attribute would have a letter of the
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English alphabet. So we'd start with A, and we'll work our way all the way through. You may be thinking, what would Z be, or what would
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Q be? I have all of them down, and so we're working our way through. So far we've gone through all -knowing for A, B, Beautiful, C, Creator, D, Decree, E, Eternal, F, Faithful, G, Gracious, or He has grace, and then 8,
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Holy. And so tonight we come to the letter I. And I've tried to work it out so that it's not topical, but that it is from a text.
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So we would be in a text, we would understand what's going on, because I think context is very, very important, and it will help us be good
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Bible students as we look at the text and see verse by verse. If you're a
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Bible teacher, one of the ways you help your people is to say, the way I preach it is the way I know you're going to study it.
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If I teach verse by verse, that's how you'll study at home eventually, if not soon.
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So tonight is I, God is incomprehensible. I, God is incomprehensible.
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An old theologian, J .H. Thornwell, said this. This is older English, but if you work at listening, you will be benefited.
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Our ignorance of the infinite is the true solution of the most perplexing problems which encounter us at every step in the study of divine truth.
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We have gained a great point when we have found out that they are really insoluble, that they contain one element which we cannot understand, and without which the whole must remain an inexplicable mystery.
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The doctrines of the Trinity, of the incarnation, of the prescience of God and the liberty of man, the permission of the fall, the propagation of original sin, the workings of effectual grace, all these are facts which are clearly taught.
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As facts, they can be readily accepted. But here's the punchline. But they defy all efforts to reduce them to science.
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The purpose tonight of the message is going to be to echo
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Brother Bruce. So when you read about how great God is and how indescribable He is, you'll respond with the
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Reformed Baptist. That's good. Psalm 145 .3 says, Great is the
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Lord, and highly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable.
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Who alone can fully and wholly understand all there is to know about God and His works?
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God's incomprehensibility severely limits the answer to that question. Only the triune
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God can completely comprehend Himself. True? Only He can. We are fallen, we are finite, and we can barely understand ourselves.
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I can barely understand my wife. And I don't mean because she's the problem, but I'm supposed to be the studier of her.
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Men, study your wives. Let alone how can we understand the transcendent and eternal
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God? Whether before the fall, after the fall, or in glory,
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God is too large for created beings to wrap their minds around Him with entire perception.
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And I believe people are starving for the greatness and glory of God. And when you understand this attribute,
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His incomprehensibility, it will satisfy the longing soul. The longing soul that senses the hunger pains of knowing our great and transcendent
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God. How do we understand God at all? He reveals
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Himself to us in the Bible. J .I. Packer said, Theology states this by describing
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God as incomprehensible. Not in the sense that logic is somehow different for Him from what it is for us, so that we cannot follow the workings of His mind at all, but in the sense that we can never understand
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Him fully, just because He is infinite and we are finite. We can't exhaust
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God with our mind, yet we can know what He says in the Bible about Himself. And I love to preach this about God because I see too many people that kind of like to have a little genie
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God. And they just put God in their pocket, as it were, and kind of pull Him out, and He's perfectly in a box, and He's tame, and He has a little collar on.
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Have you ever seen one of those people at the fair, and they sell a little leash, and the leash is a hard leash that goes straight out, and then it has a little collar, but there's no dog in there.
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It just looks like they're walking this little invisible dog around. Perfect little leash. And sometimes
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I think that's what people do with God. They cut off the rough edges of God.
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They contour Him so He's a nice pet God, and He doesn't jump all over you when the visitors come.
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Robert Morey said, on the contrary, God is not mentally manageable.
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He will not fit into our preconceived molds of who we think God should be and how God should conduct
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Himself. Morey goes on to say He will always be beyond our grasp. He is too high for us to scale and too deep for us to fathom.
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We cannot get God in a box. The finite span of a human mind will never encompass the infinite
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God of Scripture. And I believe this attribute, the incomprehensibility of God, shows the godness of God.
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Are we in Isaiah 55 yet? Keep your finger there. Let's go to Job 26.
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I think I was premature going to Isaiah 55. We want to just take a quick peek at Job 26 .14
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before we get into the text as Job expresses the praiseworthiness of God's incomprehensibility.
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You'd think that some people would say, well, I can't understand God. That yields frustration, where for Job and for us it should yield praise.
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It should reveal a wonder in our heart where we realize that God cannot be measured, that meters and miles do not somehow help describe
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God for us. Weight and length and height and depth and space and other units of measures do not apply to God.
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He is outside of computation, beyond calculation. Slide rulers our fast computers cannot assess, quantify, are a praise
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God, the awesome God. And look at what Job says in verse 14 of chapter 26, one of my favorite, favorite verses,
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I think even 15, 16 years ago. How long have you been saved, Steve? Okay, 12, 13 years ago
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I remember even talking to you about this great verse tucked away in Job. Behold, verse 14 says of Job 26, these, talking about great things of God, are the fringes of His ways.
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It's like you look at an iceberg and when you see this huge iceberg, what you see is massive, it is great, it is awesome, yet really it's just the fringe of the iceberg and when you see
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God and His power, He only reveals a little. And look at the text, and how faint a word we hear of Him, but His mighty thunder, who could understand?
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We only see what's on the surface, but the greatness of God is even greater than what we see.
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We see what God makes known to us compared to what He really is. It's like a whisper compared to Niagara Falls.
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All right, while we're looking at other verses besides Isaiah, turn with me to Ezekiel if you would,
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Ezekiel chapter 1. God is not just so wonderful that the edges of His ways are momentary glimpses of Him, produce praise and repentance.
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When the prophets try to describe God's greatness, you'll see the limitation of man as he tries to describe how great
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God is and you'll see these similes and metaphors all over the text.
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Ezekiel chapter 1. How do you mentally grasp and describe the manifestations of God?
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You can't. There's no kind of vice grip that you can get around this idea to try to stay firm on it.
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Ezekiel 1 .27. Then I notice from the appearance, and watch the words such as like and as the appearance as Ezekiel tries to get his mind around God.
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Then I notice from the appearance of His loins and upwards something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it.
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From the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something like fire and there was a radiance around Him.
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Verse 28. And the appearance of the rainbow and the clouds on a rainy day so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance.
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Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. He couldn't describe it but he knew how to respond.
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And when I saw it I fell on my face and I heard a voice speaking. He can't grasp.
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Even the prophet of God, the man who speaks for God cannot grasp how great God is and so he uses similes and metaphors.
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There's another prophet, Isaiah. So now let's finally turn to Isaiah chapter 55 to take a look at God's incomprehensibility.
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Not just God is incomprehensible but His works are incomprehensible. And those that would ponder the gravity of His incomprehensibility should zoom straight to these verses.
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Two excellent verses but often taken out of context. And if you want the
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Bible to say what you want just take the Bible out of context. It reminds me of an old quote by Mark Twain.
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There are three sorts of lies. White lies, black lies and statistics.
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And if you want the Bible to lie you just take things out of context. And here in Isaiah the words we go to have a context.
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Isaiah 55 verse 8. My thoughts are not your thoughts nor are my ways your ways.
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God's incomprehensible declares the Lord. For as the heavens, Isaiah 55 verse 9, are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts your thoughts.
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But I left out one word. What word did I leave out of the New American Standard? I left out the first word of chapter 55 verse 8.
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These words are here for a reason. These words describe something. For my thoughts are not your thoughts.
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Something comes before that that they're describing. So let's look at the entire chapter to figure out what these verses mean and you'll find that they're more amazing than maybe you thought.
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Here we come to this book Isaiah where this famous Old Testament prophet trumpeted
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Christ's return. The Messiah, the suffering servant. Isaiah, true or false, was a married man.
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Yes, Isaiah was married. Chapter 8 verse 3. They had two sons. What were the sons' names?
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I will give you a free book if anybody knows the names of the two sons. Book of your choice in the bookstore. Bruce, you got one?
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Close. You did the first one so well you can have any book under $15. How's that? All right.
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I'm just giving books out left and right. Can you tell me the first name again? That's amazing. Boy, that is good.
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Bless you. Two sons. And the two sons' names describe basically the book of Isaiah.
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And the first son was named Shear -Jasub. S -H -E -A -R -J -A -S -H -U -B.
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A remnant shall return. Isaiah 7 .3. So the book talks about a remnant. And also in chapter 8 verse 3.
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So you've got 7 .3 and 8 .3 are the two kids' names. Mayer shala hajbaz. Speed the spoil.
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Hasten the booty is what it is in King James. Isaiah 7 .3. Isaiah 8 .3.
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And basically that means there's going to be judgment and there's going to be a remnant. And that's what his kids were named.
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And here about 7th century B .C. God has Isaiah preach. We know that he was a preacher of the
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Messiah from Isaiah chapter 53, the suffering servant. And some, I learned this week, have even called
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Isaiah the fifth gospel. Why would they call it the fifth gospel? Because it's talking about Christ Jesus so much as the suffering servant,
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Isaiah 53. And here we learn about this Emmanuel, God with us, who will have an everlasting kingdom in chapter 9.
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Well, we come to chapter 55 and we're going to see that salvation is open for the
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Gentiles. Yes, it's talking about Israel in chapter 54. And now we come to the free offer of God's salvation to the
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Gentiles. And I love how it starts in Isaiah 55. We're going to go through the entire chapter tonight so we can understand the verses in the middle that talk about God's incomprehensibility.
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And how does it start? Verse 1. What's your translation say? Who has NIV? Anybody willing to admit it?
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It's fine. Who's NIV positive? Nobody. Okay. King James.
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What's it say? Ho. All right. New American Standard. Ho. New King James.
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Ho. All right. ESV. Come? Oh, so there's no ho.
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Ho's in the Greek text. It's hoy in Hebrew. Does it say come everyone who thirsts?
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Okay. Well, ho's better. It's H -O -Y in the Hebrew. Ho or hoy.
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Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. And you have no money. Second time the word come is used in New American Standard.
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Buy and eat. Third time it's used. Come, buy milk and wine. Without money, without cost, why do you spend money for what is not bread?
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And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen to me carefully and eat what is good and delight yourself in abundance.
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And he says ho to call attention. It's almost like to stop, to listen. And most scholars like Young would say it's got a little bit of pity mixed in.
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That people are doing things that they not ought to do. And so the prophet is saying, I want to get your attention.
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And I've got some sorrow in my voice because why would you go for something that so unsatisfies the soul?
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Deep sorrow. And here we have people that are basically trying to spend money on these things.
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And he's saying eternal life and the gifts of God are going to be free. And Isaiah is a master of using this kind of language to get his points across.
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He has illustrations. He deals with contemporary culture of the day. And he speaks in a way that just pops off of the page of Scripture.
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Great poetic attention -getting devices. And he says with pity, ho, why would you do this?
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And you can hear Isaiah. It's almost like the Middle East when you go and there's a street vendor. A hawking his or her wares.
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Or you can go to vendors in Germany. You can go to vendors in Poland. When you cross the border into the
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Czech Republic. There's all kinds of vendors there selling things. And here's the vendor. Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.
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For you who have no money, come. And he's saying there's a feast open to everyone.
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There's a banquet. Look back at Isaiah 25 verse 6. All kinds of banqueting language here in this book.
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Isaiah 25 verse 6. The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain.
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A banquet, all great figurative language of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow and refined aged wine.
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Here's this great banquet of God. And people aren't coming to this feast, to this banquet.
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And he's got a tone of regret, of sorrow, of sadness. Why won't people come to this great salvation that can't be purchased?
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And he says everyone here, if you look at the text, it's not just chapter 54 with the Jews. This is everyone.
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Come and eat. The blessings are extended to the Gentiles. I can hear
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Psalm 42 here. My soul thirsts for God. The longing of the soul.
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He's not talking about regular food here. He's not talking about regular wine here. Psalm 63.
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My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you. And here
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Isaiah says I know what makes you long. And your soul have a desire for satisfaction. And God has it.
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You can't find it in anything else or in anyone else. So why would you labor and toil to try to grab things, to grab what the world says is satisfying, and they're vanity.
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They won't satisfy you. Your needs are too great. The spiritual needs you have are so great. Only God can satisfy you with the spiritual thirst quenching.
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Psalm 143, verse 6. My soul longs for you like a thirsty land.
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Interesting language. And so God says freely and with open invitation, come. Come to me.
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I can hear Christ's words. Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. It's not just come over here geographically, but come with trust.
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Come with reliance. Come with faith. Come knowing that I will provide what I've said I will provide.
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And when it comes to your hunger spiritually, I will break that. When it comes to your thirst spiritually, I will assuage that, as we sang about tonight.
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And look it, there's no money that you need. You don't need a purse. You don't need a wallet. You don't need cash. You don't need credit cards.
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I can tell you when I walk out of the house, it is automatic before that door shuts. I put my hand here in my pocket to make sure
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I have my what? Keys. And I put my hand right here to make sure I have what? My wallet.
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That's exactly what I do every time. And when I put my hands there and they're not there, I'm telling you it's panic time.
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And God says these emblems of blessing, wine and milk, food, wine, things that would exhilarate your heart and give you joy.
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Wine makes the heart glad. Psalm 104 says, and milk, something that nourishes.
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God gives spiritual joy. God gives spiritual nourishment. Through the Messiah, just preached about two chapters earlier, and you want water and life and joy?
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God gives it for free. You can't buy these things. Matter of fact, money can't earn you these things.
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Money can actually keep you from these things. And the free gift of God, salvation, based on the
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Messiah's work. Why go elsewhere? He says, oh, I can tell you're going somewhere else.
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Don't do it. Don't buy into the world's message of postmodernism and the
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Gen X thing and where you can have fulfillment in others or in things or in pleasure. You want overflowing fulfillment?
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It's found in God. He says in verse 2, why do you spend money for what is not bread? Why waste your time satisfying something that can never satisfy?
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The text there actually is silver, because silver was money. Why spend your silver and your wages for what doesn't satisfy?
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And then he says, listen carefully to me. He's like taking his hands out with these poetical words and saying,
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I want you to look at me. I'm not sure if you've ever done that to your parents or you've ever had a kid that's done that, and mom and dad are just talking back and forth, and the child wants to have some attention, and you're just talking back and forth, and the child comes, and you're just kind of not really addressing them, and you're still engaged, and the child takes his hands up and takes your face and pulls your face over right to look at me.
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And here's the same thing. Listen carefully to me and eat what is good. It's all figurative language. Delight yourself in abundance.
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The salvation of God and His goodness. You won't be disappointed. Money can't buy love, man.
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It can't buy satisfaction and real fulfillment. One man said the soul was made for nobler purposes.
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Why spend your money and labor on what satisfies not? Ecclesiastes 2 is a great chapter for that.
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Wine, women, song, pleasure, music, it will not satisfy if God's not in it.
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And people in our society today, they are running with a mad dash to the finish line trying to get this kind of fulfillment, and they can't get it, so they pervert it, and they want more, and they want weird, and they want different.
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And the God of the universe says through Isaiah, listen, pay attention, eat, partake, nourishment.
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There's spiritual vitamins, spiritual minerals, spiritual protein. And let your soul delight in its abundance.
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I like the King James Translation, and in its fatness. When you see fat, you see abundance.
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Fat was rich food, something good in the Bible in Genesis 27 and Job 36, Psalm 65,
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Psalm 63. My soul is satisfied with marrow and fatness. And when it comes to the satisfaction that God gives, the spiritual deep fat fried cheesecake, it's only from God.
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Picture that. I'll never forget the time where I had deep fat fried lobster dipped in some kind of butter that was just, you know, the bottom, you see that white stuff in the butter, and you just dig down deep and swirl that around a little bit to kind of bring up some of that white stuff in that butter, and you think deep fat fried lobster dunked in butter.
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And people are running around eating some kind of pixie sticks for nourishment.
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Who knows what a pixie stick is? If you don't, you should. That wasn't in the sermon, by the way.
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That was extra. You want the goodness, you want the abundance, you want the fatness?
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It's not found internally. It's not found in advertisement.
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It's found in the mercies of God. And so he says, come a little closer, verse 3, incline your ear, come to me, listen that you may live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you according to the faithful mercies shown to David.
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The kindness and compassion and goodness that I've given to David, even with the covenant of David, you will reap those benefits as well.
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Here, listen. Don't just incline your ear. You incline your ear with a purpose to listen, to grasp it in your mind and then obey.
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Life in the eternal, everlasting covenant with David. Long ago he's promised this, the loyal, steadfast love of God.
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If you look at verses 4 and 5, nations are going to have to be under this Messiah's leadership. Some great verses here.
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Behold, I have made him, David's son, the second David, the Messiah, a witness to the peoples and not just the
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Jews. And listen to two great titles for the Messiah, a leader and commander for the peoples.
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Behold, you will call a nation who you do not know, and a nation which knows you not will run to you because of the
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Lord your God, even the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. And here now
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God is talking about his son, the Messiah, the second David, Jesus, the son of David, will be the solemn witness and testimony giver of God and his covenants and his law.
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And he calls the Messiah a leader and a commander, a sovereign leader and a great commander and lawgiver.
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I love those titles of Christ Jesus, leader and commander. The new leader who's going to assume that mantle, one man said, and responsibilities of David and such a covenant.
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And then he says salvation's open to all. Look at verse 6. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he's near.
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Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have compassion on him and to our
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God, for he will abundantly pardon. Now, let's think about this for a minute.
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If you were God, what would you do to a people that were rebellious, wicked, stiff -necked, sinful, people that would not submit to the leader, people that would not submit to their commander, would overtly be involved in insubordination, that would transgress.
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Transgress is here's the line, don't cross over it, and you can just see the attitude of I'll step over that if I want to.
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I don't know what you would do, but God is different than what we are like, and he copiously pardons.
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Look at the text. He will abundantly pardon. Now, that word means many, great, frequent.
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It means manifold, plenteous, continuous. There's a time to seek the
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Lord, because there's a time where he can't be found on judgment day. And here, seek him while he may be found.
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Call upon him. Repent of your sin. There's a great God who promises rich blessings for his people, grace and forgiveness that knows no limits.
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We know what the text says in Micah about God's great salvation.
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Who is a God like you who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of a remnant of his possession?
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What king does that? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in unchanging love.
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What king acts that way? He will again have compassion on us. He will tread our iniquities underfoot.
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Yes, he will cast all their sins in the depths of the sea. What king acts that way? God says, forsake your way.
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Seek the Lord. You have a responsibility to do that. You can't just say, well,
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I don't understand. There's favor to be received for those seekers.
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And now is the time. Listen to what this man said. How amazing the stupidity of men who suffer their present moments to pass away unimproved.
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And who, amidst the gaieties and the business of life, permit the day of salvation to pass by and lose their souls.
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Now, is God always near? Seek him while he's near. Well, he's of course near. He's omnipresent. But the language here is, when he's near to you in preaching, respond.
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When he's near to you, as it were, in your own conscience, respond. When he's near to you and you hear
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Isaiah proclaiming God and his providences and his plan, respond. And he will multiply pardon, the
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Hebrew says. And then we come to the verses we're talking about where he's incomprehensible. Verses 8 and 9 are not about the general nature of God's incomprehensibility.
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Verses 8 and 9 are about the incomprehensibility of God when it comes to pardon, forgiveness, and salvation.
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He abundantly pardons. Draw a line from the last words of verse 7 to the first word of verse 8 if you're a note -taker.
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For my thoughts are not your thoughts. There's a tie -in. The tie -in there is from verse 7 to verse 8.
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He will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts. Because we wouldn't act that way. We wouldn't do that.
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No human would be so transgressed against and then pardon anyway at the expense of his son?
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At the expense of the suffering Messiah, verse chapter 53? Nor are your ways my ways.
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Because if God's ways were reflective of our ways, there'd be no abundant pardon.
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There'd be abundant damnation. Declares the Lord. You want to know the difference between God and man when it comes to forgiveness?
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Well, we heard about some of that this morning. But here, for as heavens are as higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways.
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And my thoughts than your thoughts. In the context of forgiveness. In the context of redeeming, reclaiming, renewing the sinner.
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Far above human comprehension. Listen to what
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Barnes said. People find it difficult to pardon at all. They harbor malice.
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They seek revenge. They are slow to forgive an injury. Not so with God. He has no reluctance to forgive.
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It may refer to the number of offenses. People, if they forgive once, are slow to forgive a second time.
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And still more reluctant to forgive a third time. And if the offense is often repeated, they refuse to forgive altogether.
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Not so with God. No matter how often we have violated His law, yet He can multiply forgiveness in proportion to our faults.
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The number of the offenders. People may pardon one or a few who injure them. But if the number is greatly increased, their compassions are closed.
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And they feel that the world is arrayed against them. Not so with God. No matter how numerous the offenders, though they embrace the inhabitants of the whole world, yet He can extend forgiveness.
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In regard to the aggravation of offenses. People forgive a slight injury. However, if it is aggravated, they are slow to pardon.
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But not so with God. No matter how aggravated the offense, He is ready to forgive.
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Thoughts in regard to the mode of pardon. Are far above ours. The plan of forgiveness through a Redeemer.
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The scheme of pardon illustrated in Isaiah 53. The scheme which contemplated the incarnation of the
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Son of God. Through His substitutionary sufferings. That's amazing to think about.
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For thy mercy, Psalm 57 says, is great unto the heavens and thy truth unto the clouds. Psalm 89, mercy shall be built up forever.
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Thy faithfulness shall establish in the very heavens. The limitlessness of God's compassion is what we should be amazed at.
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We should not be able to comprehend that. Verse 10. Some great, great verses.
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For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven. And do not return there without watering the earth. And make it bare and sprout.
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And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So will my, what? Word be which goes forth from my mouth.
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It will not return to me empty without accomplishing what I desire. And without succeeding in the matter for which
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I sent it. God takes rain and snow to make cultivation possible.
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And in the same way rain and snow are used to help cultivate. So too, God's word is used to cultivate the barren parched soul.
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The sterile soul. God's word, like the rain, never doesn't do its job.
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And I thought, you know, I need to study this a little bit. Because when I read something like Deuteronomy 32. Let my teaching drop as the rain.
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My speech distill as the dew. As the droplets on the fresh grass. As the showers on the herb.
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When God ties in his word with rain language. Because it's just so poetical and so beautiful.
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I need to do a little study. So I did some studies on rainstorms this week. Very impressive.
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And I'm so glad for Google. If you take a one mile area. By the way, have you ever wondered why there's a retention pond next to large parking lots?
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Why would there be retention ponds next to large parking lots? Because there's so much rain.
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That if it just runs off some place, there's erosion. So it goes off to that retention pond. And so there's lots of rain over large areas.
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If you have a one mile area. And there's two inches of rain over that one mile area.
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How many total gallons? Two inches of rain, one mile area. How many gallons?
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Any guesses? 3 ,000, 30 ,000, 3 million or above.
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Three billion gallons of water over one mile, two inches of rain. And I did a little more study.
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The world record for the most precipitation in a 72 hour period. Was on a little French island outside of Madagascar in the
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South Indian Ocean. The island is 30 miles across.
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And it's got these two large volcanoes, 8 ,500 feet altitude volcanoes.
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And it just creates this, I don't understand all the meteorology. But it just can rain like mad.
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12 .9 feet of rain in 72 hours. Over 30 miles.
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24 trillion gallons of water. And I thought I can't figure that out. I mean I try to carry a 55 gallon drum.
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Just imagine how heavy that is. I remember these guys who do old time weight lifting.
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They'd have a 55 gallon drum here, 55 gallon drum here. They'd put some kind of concrete stuff in there.
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And these chains and then this bar. And they'd try to squat these things. 24 trillion gallons in 72 hours.
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So I did a little study and here's what I found out through Google. That in Lake Tahoe there's only 40 trillion gallons of water.
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So the water that's in Lake Tahoe, God just drops down basically in 72 hours. That is amazing to me.
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Rain does it's work. So too does the word of God. As the rain does it's work to the parched soil.
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So too when God sends out his word to the parched soul. It does it's work.
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But then it's interesting to see the text and the snow. I mean what's snow good for? It just creates havoc for the pond and we can't play hockey.
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I mean it doesn't do anything good. But here it says the snow does not return there without watering the earth and making it bare and sprout.
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Both rain and snow. So I did a little more study and I learned about what benefits there are to snow.
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Did you know snow provides a slow measured supply of water to underground reservoirs?
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The snow slowly melts and then goes down into the water table. If it rains too hard the water is quickly taken away off the surface and there's no water table help.
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And all you get is erosion. I also found out that snow cover insulates the ground during cold, cold winter.
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Studies have shown that nighttime temperatures can be more than 20 degrees warmer beneath a layer of protective snow.
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This insulation keeps the ground from freezing to great depths. An important safeguard for the water table that prevents widespread permafrost.
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A blanket of snow also protects small animals such as mice which must remain active during winter.
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Third, falling snow is an excellent purifier of the air. Every snowflake captures floating dust particles as it begins its growth.
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As the snow falls it further sweeps up contaminants in the atmosphere. Ain't evolution grand?
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The rain does its work. The snow does its work. And so too does God's word do its work.
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It does not come back void. And whether the word is working on kind of a slow percolating kind of effect on the soul of a sinner or something quick, it still does its work.
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It produces an effect. You have the hard recalcitrant soil that seems impermeable when
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God takes a soul that's hard and recalcitrant. Maybe you can think of your own soul before you were saved.
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And God applies the work of this great word that's living and active.
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It does its work. The gospel is not preached in vain just as rain does not fall in vain.
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Verse 12, For you will go out with joy and be led forth with peace.
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Great language here of just joy and happiness and looking at these heavenly messengers that know about this great thing of God.
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The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
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Clapping and singing and filled with joy. It's not going to be like verse 13. Instead of the thorn bush, the cypress will come up.
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Instead of the nettle, the myrtle will come up. And it will be a memorial to the Lord for an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.
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When it comes to the millennial kingdom, we'll see this fertility on the earth very vividly and dramatically.
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But also in the soul of a sinner when the word goes out, it's not going to produce thorn bushes.
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It's going to produce joy and peace. So when you go back to verse 7, that is the key to unlock verses 8 and 9.
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Is God incomprehensible? Yes, but he's incomprehensible when it comes to his abundant pardon.
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Now the New Testament speaks of this as well. Let's turn to Romans chapter 11 and we need to wrap this up.
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I always think I'll never have enough to talk about and I have to cut things out. My son, no, no, maybe it was my daughter.
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I think Haley said to me today, Dad, you finished all six points this morning. She's listening at least.
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I didn't want to. I didn't want to finish them. There's a
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New Testament illustration of the incomprehensibility of salvation. And at the end of Romans chapter 11, you see the hymn, the paean of praise to the incomprehensible wisdom and utter mercy of our great
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God. This praise is not just for God's plan of salvation for Israel and the
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Gentiles, but there are more reasons for that. And this doxology is regarding sovereign salvation of anyone as well.
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And he says with instead of a hoe, he reverses the words.
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Of course, he doesn't reverse them because he's writing now in Greek. And we looked at the other words in Hebrew.
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But in English, they're reversed. Right. Instead of a hoe with some pity, Paul gives us a what?
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Oh, I just thought of this tonight. This is kind of fun to just see what happens while you're preaching. Just a good memory device.
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There's nothing Greek or Hebrew about it. But instead of a hoe, there's a hoe. And you studied sometime in your
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Strong's Concordance, the word, oh, this interjection of how interjection.
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I was going to say interrogative, but it's an interjection. He says what about this great salvation that Jews and Gentiles are saved, that anyone is saved by justification, by faith and God's sovereign dealing over everyone.
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The depths of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. Unsearchable are his judgments and unfathomable his ways.
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He's incomprehensible is what God is saying through Paul. For who has known the mind of the
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Lord? Answer, we know the answer. Or who has become his counselor? We know that answer.
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Or who has first given to him that it might be paid back to him again? For from him and through him and to him are all things.
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The book's not even over yet, but he has to praise God for his incomprehensibility. To him be the glory forever. Amen. And when
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Paul says the depth of riches, we looked at this word, I think even last week. This is bathos.
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This is where we get the word for bathysphere, where you go deep down to the ocean in some kind of Jacques Cousteau -esque kind of container.
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It's a metaphor used for the inexhaustible abundance or immense amount, one lexicon says.
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Romans 8, verse 39 uses the same word. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our
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Lord. This salvation is too deep. We can't comprehend it.
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We can't get our arms around it, Paul is trying to say. One scholar, A .T. Robertson, said Paul's argument concerning God's elective grace and goodness has carried him to the heights.
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And now he pauses on the edge of the precipice as he contemplates God's wisdom and knowledge, fully conscious of his inability to sound the bottom, which the plummet of human reason and words will not allow.
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Yet Paul did not say, well, I can't understand it, so I can't praise God. He says,
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I'm going to praise him even though I can't get my arms around how great he is. And he's unfathomable. He's untraceable.
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His footprints can't be tracked or traced. In verse 35 of Job, Job 41 is freely quoted.
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If you look back in verse 35 of Romans chapter 11, it demonstrates that God is the only responsible party for all his deeds.
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God is sovereign and the exalted one who must receive the glory. So how do we respond? Let me just give you a few quickly.
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I think I have six. Six this morning, six tonight. Maybe seven. There are seven responses tonight.
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Yes, even seven. Six responses, yes, even seven. Number one, wonder and praise. How do we respond to God's incomprehensibility?
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I could ask you the question, does this unmanageable God repel you or attract you?
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Biblical and worshipful response is all wonder and praise. King of Israel is a redeemer, the
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Lord of hosts. I am the first and the last. There is no God beside me. Are you rejoicing that this great
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God over 2 ,000 years ago cloaked himself with humanity to die in the place of sinners like you?
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Salvation through Christ Jesus is no longer incomprehensible. Angels had to stoop to examine such a doctrine and reality, but the second person of the
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Trinity, full of grace and truth, pitched his tabernacle among us in order to rescue us from deserved wrath.
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Number two, repentance. How do we respond? With wonder and awe. Number two, with repentance.
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God turned the tables on Job. Job had all the questions. God now is the one questioning
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Job. Job has his lip zipped, as it were, when it comes to God's incomprehensibility, and then he relinquished any idea he had about understanding
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God fully, and then he repented. He said, I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes see you.
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Therefore, I retract and I repent in what? Dust and ashes. Robert Culver said of these things, they do not inspire long speeches, rather stumbling words of repentance and silence, as illustrated by Job's excellent example.
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I would say that if you have been like Job, questioning God due to a major trial, a real trial in your life, the right response is repentance and acquiescence to God and his perfect plans, even though we might not be able to understand them now.
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Number three, obey what you do know. In other words, don't become paralyzed with the things that God does not want you to know.
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A perennial favorite verse with almost all Bible students is Deuteronomy 29 .29. Strike that.
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A perennial and partial favorite verse is Deuteronomy 29 .29. Can you quote the whole verse? I'll give another book to anybody that can quote that entire verse, even from the message
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I'll take. Deuteronomy 29 .29. What part do you remember, though?
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Deuteronomy 29 .29. Secret things belong to the Lord. Here's the real verse, the full verse.
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The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.
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You can't get your arms wrapped around all the greatness of God, so what you do understand, obey and do. It reminds me of Solomon's similar advice.
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Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things.
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Next verse, how do you respond to that? Sow your seed in the morning.
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Do not be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether morning or evening sowing will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.
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Don't sit around thinking, well, I'm going to just contemplate my navel and how God exists or doesn't exist.
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All these other things get busy. We don't understand how a baby is formed.
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We have to get busy. Number four.
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Oh, just with accountability, I think I've told you this story before. The story goes that William Phelps taught
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English literature at Yale for 41 years until his retirement in 1933. He was correcting an exam just before Christmas one year, and Phelps stumbled on this note.
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God only knows the answer to this question. That was what he put on there,
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Merry Christmas. Phelps, a professor, returned the paper with this note. God gets an
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A. You get an F. Happy New Year. We focus on the revealed will of God, what he's revealed in Scripture, and we leave the secret will of God that shows itself in providence and in history to God.
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Number four. Don't go to the extreme to think God can't be known at all.
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God does let us know him through the Scripture, and there's plenty to learn about God that we can know for certain, even though we might not know exhaustively.
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And we'll even see Jeremiah boast about knowing God. Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom.
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Do not let the mighty man boast of his strength. Let not a rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast of this, that he cannot understand me, that he must be in the emergent church, that I am the
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Lord. We can't understand? Of course we can. But let him boast in this, that I am the
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Lord, that he understands and knows me. You can know God. You can understand him, but you can't understand him fully.
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Number five. Live by faith. Job ultimately accepted the fact he was not able to understand the infinite
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God, so he resorted to something that is rare these days. He walked by faith, not by sight.
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Isn't that the definition of Christianity? Galatians 2. I've been crucified with Christ, and there's no longer
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I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the
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Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. God does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number, and we live by faith.
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Number six. This should cause us, this doctrine, to be less prideful. Contrary to popular philosophy, man is not the measure of all things.
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We should join Charles Spurgeon when he says, other subjects we can comprehend and grapple with.
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And then we kind of feel self -content and go on our way with the thought, behold, I'm wise. But when we come to this master science, finding that our plumb line cannot sound its depth, that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn away with a thought,
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I am of but yesterday and know nothing. And then number seven. Get used to God's incomprehensibility, because he'll still even be incomprehensible in heaven.
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What do you mean by that, pastor? I think God will know as we're known in heaven, but there'll still be our finiteness, even though we won't be fallen.
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We'll be glorified, yet we'll be finite, and we'll be praising this infinite God who will still be incomprehensible, and I think we'll learn in heaven, and here's what we'll learn.
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More and more and more about God forever and forever and forever. God is incomprehensible, and Isaac Watts knew it.
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The Lord, how wondrous are his ways, is a great hymn. We don't have the music, but we have the lyrics.
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The Lord, how wondrous are his ways, how firm his truth, how large his grace. He takes his mercy for his throne, and thence he makes his glories known.
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Not half so high his power hath spread the starry heavens above our head, as his rich love exceeds our praise, exceeds the highest hopes we raise.
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Not half so far hath nature placed the rising morning from the west, as his forgiving grace removes the daily guilt of those he loves.
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How slowly doth his wrath arise, on swifter wings salvation flies, and if he lets his anger burn, how soon his frowns to pity turn.
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Amid his wrath, compassion shines. His strokes are lighter than our sins, and while his rod corrects his saints, his ear indulges their complaints.
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So fathers they're young, sons chastened. With gentle hand and melting eyes, the children weep beneath the smart, and move the pity of their heart.
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The mighty God, the wise and just, knows that our frame is feeble dust, and will no heavy loads impose beyond the strength that he bestows.
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He knows how soon our nature dies, blasted by every wind that flies. Like grass we spring and die as soon, our mourning flowers that fade at noon.
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But his eternal love is sure to all the saints, and shall endure. From age to age his truth shall reign, nor children's children hope in vain.
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Let's pray together. Lord, we thank you tonight that even though you're knowable because of Scripture, you're knowable because of Christ Jesus' incarnation.
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There are things that we can't know, and maybe we'll never know. And Lord, I pray for our church, and pray for myself, that we wouldn't somehow demand to know more than what you revealed.
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That we wouldn't somehow use reason and anything outside of Scripture that would contradict.
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Lord, you've ordained us to know these things, and some of the secrets that you've kept, that we could search in vain for them and never find them.
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And so I pray that you'd help us to be content, satisfied, holy people who are in awe of a great
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God who is abundant in forgiveness. That is truly incomprehensible, knowing that we've sinned against you, a holy
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God, yet you've called us by name as children. We'll praise you forever because of that.