back to index11-25-15 Wed Bible Study
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Gracious Father, we thank you for this evening and we thank you for the opportunity for us 00:00:15.680 |
We ask Lord that the things that we've studied in the last week, Lord, that the text that 00:00:21.560 |
we were able to dive into and to interact with, that you would bring to greater light 00:00:31.240 |
And we pray, Father God, not just the Word, but the fellowship that we have would only 00:00:35.880 |
solidify further, Lord God, not just knowledge, but how your Word would be living in our lives. 00:00:43.120 |
And so we pray for your grace and the Holy Spirit to take these written words and write 00:00:48.160 |
them in our hearts, Lord God, that we may apply and continue to be sanctified and grow. 00:00:55.560 |
All right, so with a quick review before we get into chapter three, because again, as 00:01:04.680 |
I mentioned before, if you don't pay attention and you don't pay attention to the details 00:01:08.800 |
of what he's saying and all you're looking at is kind of like the overarching theme, 00:01:12.800 |
which is basically you sin and you're going to be judged because God's going to restore. 00:01:18.720 |
And so that's what you're going to get every single time you open up the Bible and then 00:01:22.560 |
it's not going to make a whole lot of sense to you. 00:01:26.160 |
When we talk about the grace of God in the gospel, every aspect of the New Testament 00:01:34.040 |
So we look upon redemption, we look upon regeneration, we look upon adoption. 00:01:38.400 |
So every aspect of that, it clarifies for us what salvation is. 00:01:43.120 |
But when was the last time you really took a deep look at sin? 00:01:48.640 |
Other than, oh, he's rebelling against God or missing the mark, but the details of how 00:01:59.160 |
Isaiah is taking the sin of Israel and he didn't just say, "Hey, you're rebelling and 00:02:08.120 |
He says, "You're haughty and you're arrogant and you're proud, but what does that look 00:02:16.640 |
And so he's expositing and looking at the details of, this is what idolatry looks like 00:02:23.360 |
This is what self-confidence looks like in your life. 00:02:26.200 |
This is what self-reliance looks like in your life. 00:02:30.400 |
So that at the end of it, when the judgment comes, no one can stand there and say, "Well, 00:02:36.880 |
So that's why it's important for us as we are going through the study of the book of 00:02:40.360 |
Isaiah, especially the beginning aspect of it. 00:02:45.640 |
The purpose of Isaiah is to prepare them for judgment. 00:02:56.040 |
And the reason why it's important for them to understand that is so that when they do 00:02:58.800 |
repent, they're not, they're repenting very specifically of the things that God told them 00:03:05.240 |
So it's important for us not only to recognize the intricacies of his grace, but how sin 00:03:16.520 |
Typically, I think the major thing that you're going to see in the book of Isaiah is that 00:03:25.360 |
a lot of things that he mentions here, I think any one of us can read that and say, "Well, 00:03:32.880 |
And because we're on this side of the covenant, we have a tendency to look at sin and say, 00:03:39.600 |
It's like, "Yeah, I'm struggling with purity." 00:03:40.600 |
And we have a tendency, we have broad strokes of what sin is. 00:03:47.400 |
But the way God describes sin in the nation of Israel, his people, he doesn't simply say, 00:03:53.000 |
Here's the standard and you didn't quite make it." 00:04:00.000 |
And so there's a difference between a child of God who is maybe stumbling over certain 00:04:04.360 |
things versus somebody who's sinning but maybe in rebellion against God. 00:04:14.400 |
He is somebody that's a figurehead in our life, but he's not Lord over our life. 00:04:18.880 |
And so what does that look like in the life of a believer? 00:04:21.080 |
What does that look like in the life of the church? 00:04:23.520 |
And so those are things that I think we need to pay attention to so that we don't just 00:04:26.560 |
gloss over and say, "Israel sinned, so therefore they got judged." 00:04:32.040 |
So in quick review, chapter 1 verses 1 through 10 lays out the foundation of why judgment 00:04:39.840 |
So remember we talked about that last week, the first part of Isaiah chapter 1. 00:04:46.240 |
Basically, kind of like the pattern that you will see. 00:04:50.680 |
And what are some of the things that he says about the sin of Israel? 00:05:00.440 |
Just from the top of your head, what do you remember? 00:05:04.440 |
Like the ox and donkey, they know their master, but my people don't know who their Lord is. 00:05:09.440 |
And so in other words, he's saying, "I treated you like my children, but you're not even 00:05:19.440 |
And what was the extent of their judgment, of their sin? 00:05:40.240 |
When God looked at the nation of Israel, was he saying, "You know what, there's parts of 00:05:44.200 |
this that is corrupt, and there's other parts that are good." 00:05:49.720 |
In other words, he saw the nation of Israel was corrupt through and through. 00:05:55.720 |
So that's the first part, that kind of lays the foundation. 00:05:58.720 |
The second part of it, in verse 10 through 20, he talks about how false religiousness 00:06:08.720 |
That all the sins that God was going to point out through Isaiah, that you can't just say, 00:06:16.720 |
"You know what, I went to the temple and I gave all these sacrifices." 00:06:18.720 |
He said, "All of these things, if it is not in the context of true repentance, what are 00:06:25.720 |
In Amos, he calls the singing "noisy sounds." 00:06:29.720 |
So one, their relationship with God has been strained, like it says, "utterly strained." 00:06:39.720 |
And through and through, their false, even their religious services were tainted because 00:06:44.720 |
And then 21 through 31, it lays out how all their confidence in false things will be burned 00:06:53.720 |
One of the idolatries that God points out is that their confidence was in, what was 00:06:58.720 |
their confidence in that we talked about last week? 00:07:01.720 |
Right, that's what the false religiousness was. 00:07:11.720 |
And then there was, remember the historical context? 00:07:16.720 |
Right, remember they're talking about the oak and you're relying upon that and you said 00:07:23.720 |
Right, it's not going to, you're basically, the thing that you think are strong is going 00:07:29.720 |
So their confidence was in aligning themselves with the Egyptians or with the Assyrians or 00:07:34.720 |
He said, "None of that is going to help you when judgment comes." 00:07:37.720 |
And so today's text in chapter 3, 1 to 4, 1, we're actually going to go to 4, 6, but 00:07:46.720 |
It's an ongoing indictment against Israel's false security of man rather than God. 00:07:57.720 |
So this is a continuation of where we left off last week, right? 00:08:01.720 |
And what was the key verse that you memorized? 00:08:07.720 |
And the reason why I asked you to memorize a verse from last week is because that pretty 00:08:11.720 |
much summarizes the indictment against Israel, that your confidence is in man, right? 00:08:18.720 |
And so that's basically what he's going to be talking about in this section. 00:08:29.720 |
Video is captured in the slides so you don't have to see it. 00:08:39.720 |
So Isaiah 2, 6 to 4, 1, it's summed up in 2, 2, 2, 22. 00:08:45.720 |
In other words, their confidence was constantly in man, whether it was a nation, whether it 00:08:52.720 |
And so what we're going to see in this text is where God says, "Everything that you relied 00:08:58.720 |
on for support and supply is that God's going to take over." 00:09:06.720 |
So the judgment was, part of the judgment is, everything that you thought was your confidence, 00:09:12.720 |
that this is somehow what was going to get you right with God and make you a great nation, 00:09:19.720 |
And so the first thing that he mentions is bread and water. 00:09:22.720 |
Bread and water symbolizing essentials for life. 00:09:26.720 |
Now, this is the only verse out of this whole section that is kind of out of place. 00:09:31.720 |
There's one theme that you're going to see all throughout chapter 3, all the way to chapter 00:09:48.720 |
You know, whisper it to yourself or talk to your group. 00:09:52.720 |
What do you think, if you were to describe the whole theme, like the judgment upon Israel, 00:09:56.720 |
what was the confidence that he says is going to take away outside of the water and bread? 00:10:19.720 |
What is the theme that kind of carries all the way through chapter 3? 00:10:25.720 |
What is the confidence that God says he's going to destroy? 00:10:45.720 |
He's going to say, these are the people that you're relying on. 00:10:50.720 |
He's going to say, all these people that you're relying on are going to be taken away. 00:10:55.720 |
And if you look at the language that he uses in chapter 3, what would cause this kind of 00:11:20.720 |
So, specifically, we could say this looks like a description of 2 Kings 24, right? 00:11:27.720 |
Where the Babylonians come in and take in all the specifics. 00:11:31.720 |
In fact, the language is very similar to what he says here. 00:11:33.720 |
More generic or generally, it sounds like they went to war and they lost. 00:11:41.720 |
So, basically, it begins by saying all the support and supply is going to be taken away. 00:11:48.720 |
Water and bread basically means your livelihood, your sustenance. 00:12:01.720 |
And then everything else that he describes is kind of the effects. 00:12:14.720 |
This was a constant stumbling block to the nation of Israel. 00:12:16.720 |
And if you remember, remember we talked about that? 00:12:19.720 |
How many kings in the northern kingdom were actually good kings? 00:12:25.720 |
How many kings in the southern kingdom were good kings? 00:12:32.720 |
And even though they had eight, not all of them were all good. 00:12:36.720 |
Some of them started out good and then they went sour at the end. 00:12:39.720 |
And then most of them, they did what was right in the eyes of the Lord except, what did they 00:12:46.720 |
In other words, they didn't weed out all the idolatry that was in Israel. 00:12:51.720 |
So, they gained right worship, but they didn't fight against idolatry. 00:12:56.720 |
And so, what did God think about leadership from the very beginning? 00:13:01.720 |
God warned them that if you want kings like everybody else, here's what's going to happen. 00:13:06.720 |
So, can you turn your Bibles to 1 Samuel 8, 1 through 22? 00:13:10.720 |
It's a long passage, but I think it'll help us understand this text better. 00:13:29.720 |
I'll give you a couple of minutes to read it. 00:15:52.720 |
When they wanted kings, what did God say to Samuel? 00:15:59.720 |
He said, "They're not rejecting you, they're rejecting me." 00:16:04.720 |
God took what they were asking for as a rejection of God. 00:16:18.720 |
"Hey, we need a king too. All the other nations have kings, why don't we need a king?" 00:16:23.720 |
And then he basically tells them, and in the end, what do they say? 00:16:29.720 |
So, God took this as, "Your confidence should be in me. You should trust me." 00:16:34.720 |
And so, when Saul came in, and he was their first king, what was the primary sin of Saul? 00:16:54.720 |
So, everything he did was to bring himself forward. 00:16:57.720 |
And as a result of that, he gets rejected, David comes in, and what was the primary thing that God saw in David that God would pick David? 00:17:07.720 |
So, he's going to be a man who's going to do what I tell him to do. 00:17:11.720 |
So, to begin with, them wanting a king in and of itself was a sinful. 00:17:18.720 |
And then, when they did give a king, the duty of the king of Israel was to reflect God. 00:17:28.720 |
And so, the sin that he talks about, Isaiah talks about, is that you had your confidence in your king. 00:17:36.720 |
From the very beginning of why you wanted a king, where your confidence came from was wrong to begin with. 00:17:42.720 |
And then, just like he said, he said, "When these kings come," what did he say? 00:17:51.720 |
These kings are not going to be in there to protect you and take care of you. 00:17:54.720 |
These kings are going to come, they're going to look out for themselves, and they're going to take advantage of you. 00:17:58.720 |
And that's exactly what it says, right, in chapter 3. 00:18:01.720 |
These kings came, the people that you had confidence in, they're going to take advantage of you. 00:18:06.720 |
So, he says, he's going to bring judgment upon them for the very thing that he said was going to happen if you bring these kings. 00:18:16.720 |
So, in 2 and 3, he describes, in chapter 3, verse 2 and 3, he describes the people. 00:18:21.720 |
The mighty man, soldier, the judge, the prophet, the divinely elder, captain of 50, and man of brand, counselor, skillful magician. 00:18:27.720 |
Everybody that was of importance in that society, basically, God's going to take away. 00:18:35.720 |
That's the text, that's the description of what happens when Babylon comes in and takes the men away. 00:19:00.720 |
He carried into exile all Jerusalem, all the officers and fighting men, and all the craftsmen and artisans, a total of 10,000. 00:19:08.720 |
Only the poorest people of the land were left. 00:19:11.720 |
Okay. So, the very description that he gives here sounds a lot like that text, 2 Kings 24-14. 00:19:19.720 |
And then, if you continue to read, it will tell you about all the other stuff that they do. 00:19:23.720 |
But, in the end, it's saying, like, when the Babylonians come, they leave a remnant. 00:19:27.720 |
But the remnant of the people are people that they think are useless. 00:19:30.720 |
And they're described as poor and helpless, and they leave behind. 00:19:34.720 |
And then they basically place a puppet king, you know, in charge. 00:19:38.720 |
And then Joho Echin and all of his family, and anybody of noble background, any mighty soldier, anybody who's educated, he takes them all to Babylon. 00:19:47.720 |
Right? And so, again, it's a description of God's judgment upon the nation of Israel, which he warned from the very beginning. 00:19:54.720 |
If you go down this path, this is what's going to happen. 00:19:57.720 |
And now Isaiah is saying, now it's happening. 00:20:03.720 |
He says, instead of mighty men, like you're looking for, what you're going to get are boys and infants who are going to rule over you, verse 4. 00:20:11.720 |
And then he repeats the same phrase again, almost the same phrase in chapter 3-12. 00:20:15.720 |
Not only are they going to rule over you, they're going to oppress you and rule over you. 00:20:21.720 |
And then the description that he gives in verse 5. 00:20:27.720 |
He said, not only are infants are going to rule over you, people will oppress one another, everyone his fellow and everyone his neighbor. 00:20:34.720 |
The youth will be insolent to the elder, and the despised will be despised to the honorable. 00:20:43.720 |
So there will be chaos and disorder among the people as a result of poor leadership, because there's nothing bringing them together. 00:20:50.720 |
Everybody's just kind of doing whatever they want. 00:20:52.720 |
And so that's a description in verse 5 of a community that's lost its leaders. 00:21:01.720 |
People will oppress one another, youth will be insolent to the elders. 00:21:05.720 |
And then there's in such need of leadership, it says that in verse 7, 6 and 7, that they're basically going to ask anybody to lead them. 00:21:16.720 |
For man will take hold of his brother in the house of his father, saying, you have a cloak. 00:21:23.720 |
You have a cloak, meaning you're not a beggar like us. 00:21:28.720 |
That all the, anybody of prominence have been taken out, the only people remaining in Israel, in Judah, is, are the poor people. 00:21:36.720 |
So anybody said, oh, you have a cloak, you're better off than us, then you should lead us. 00:21:43.720 |
You shall be our leader, and this heap of ruins shall be under your rule. 00:21:48.720 |
In that day he will speak out saying, I will not be a healer. 00:21:51.720 |
In my house there is neither bread nor cloak. 00:21:55.720 |
In fact, they're going to have a hard time even finding anybody to lead them. 00:21:59.720 |
The only qualification was, you have a cloak. 00:22:07.720 |
So in other words, God's going to say, all the leadership that you've been depending on, God's going to take away. 00:22:11.720 |
You're going to have infants and boys, and they're going to oppress you. 00:22:15.720 |
And then when you want other leadership, no one's going to want to take that job. 00:22:20.720 |
Because the leaders were the first ones to be judged. 00:22:24.720 |
Why would I want to be a leader over this heap, this ruin? 00:22:28.720 |
And then all this will happen, according to verse 89, because of the boldness of their sin. 00:22:33.720 |
Whenever the Bible describes a sin where it's gotten so bad, you know, what does God compare them to? 00:22:45.720 |
Their sins are so bad that this is what it's like. 00:22:47.720 |
It says in verse 8 and 9, "For the Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen because their speech and their deeds are against the Lord, defying his glorious presence. 00:22:57.720 |
For the look on their faces bear witness against them. 00:23:03.720 |
Woe to them, for they have sought evil themselves." 00:23:07.720 |
And all this is happening because of the boldness of their sins. 00:23:11.720 |
But in verse 10 and 11, he says in verse 10, "Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds." 00:23:21.720 |
So, in the midst of all of this judgment, what does he say to the righteous? 00:23:28.720 |
It's the people who sin, they're going to be judged, right? 00:23:31.720 |
"But those who practice righteousness, you will bear good fruit." 00:23:39.720 |
So, if he's talking about the Babylonian captivity, what is verse 10 a description of? 00:23:50.720 |
In captivity, in Babylon, that verse 10 would apply to. 00:24:18.720 |
So, basically he's telling the nation of Israel, he's saying, "Yes, judgment is coming upon the nation." 00:24:24.720 |
But the righteous, they're going to be basically rewarded. 00:24:29.720 |
The language here is, "Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds." 00:24:40.720 |
And who, during the captivity, did things work out for them? 00:24:51.720 |
Because of their righteousness, they kept on moving up rank, and even though they tried to kill them, they couldn't kill them. 00:24:56.720 |
So, he's saying that even in the midst of God's judgment, God will protect and bless those who are righteous. 00:25:07.720 |
I think, he doesn't mention their names, but you can see that as an example. 00:25:11.720 |
Even in the midst of captivity, God was protecting the people who were faithful. 00:25:17.720 |
Then in verse 13 and 15, even though they removed God, and God says, "They rejected me." 00:25:25.720 |
In 13, 14, and 15, basically God says that he's on the throne. 00:25:34.720 |
You've rejected me, and you had confidence in them, but now the Lord is going to stand, and he's going to take his right place. 00:25:42.720 |
And the judgment that he speaks of, specifically, are to the leaders of Israel. 00:25:48.720 |
Just like he said, in Samuel, they've taken advantage of the people rather than caring for them. 00:25:57.720 |
What do you mean by crushing my people by grinding the face of the poor declares the Lord of God. 00:26:04.720 |
And God will humble the arrogant, verse 16 and 17. 00:26:09.720 |
That's a theme that we've seen all throughout chapter two. 00:26:20.720 |
So you're going to see this theme as the rebellion against God described as arrogance, man's pride. 00:26:28.720 |
And not just in the Old Testament, but all throughout human history, sin basically is a rebellion against God. 00:26:41.720 |
And then he says, verse 18 through 15, everything, all the external warning, which was their source of pride, will be taken away from them. 00:26:50.720 |
Some commentaries actually think that this was specifically given for women. 00:26:57.720 |
But I don't think it's only limited to women. 00:26:59.720 |
If you look at all of this, men can, it can apply to men as well. 00:27:05.720 |
So in other words, he's saying he's going to humble you. 00:27:07.720 |
Everything that kind of you adorned yourself to be proud in front of other people, God's going to strip that away. 00:27:16.720 |
War will devastate the nation where there will be lack of men to marry. 00:27:19.720 |
So if you look at verse 25 through chapter 4, verse 1, "Your men shall fall by the sword and your mighty men in battle, and her gates shall lament and mourn empty. 00:27:30.720 |
She shall sit on the ground, and seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, 'We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes. 00:27:42.720 |
So again, the picture that we see here in verse 25, chapter 4, verse 1, is a result of battle. 00:27:49.720 |
So all the marriable men basically have been either slaughtered or they've been taken into captivity. 00:27:55.720 |
So as a result of that, the women are going to be staggering looking for men to marry. 00:28:02.720 |
I was reading a commentary, and one of the commentaries said during World War II that over one million men were killed in Germany, and over 500,000 French men were killed. 00:28:16.720 |
Basically, more than half of the men who were able to, during that period, were slaughtered. 00:28:27.720 |
But again, remember we talked about that like the goal of this is not simply to say, "Hey, here's judgment. This is why you're being judged." 00:28:36.720 |
But along with that, his goal is to leave imprints of, "This is why judgment is coming, but this is the reason why Jesus is coming." 00:28:45.720 |
And so, "God will not forsake them," verses, chapter 4, verses 2 to 6. 00:28:55.720 |
"The branch of the Lord will be restored to its beauty and glory for the remnant of Israel." 00:29:00.720 |
Now, if you look at chapter 4, verse 2, in a context in itself, you can kind of mull and say, "Oh, the branch is talking about Jesus." 00:29:08.720 |
But the reason why the branch is probably referring to Jesus is if you turn to chapter 11, turn to Isaiah chapter 11. 00:29:22.720 |
If you look at chapter 11, the term "branch" is used again. 00:29:26.720 |
"There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from the roots shall bear fruit." 00:29:32.720 |
And if you keep reading, it is clearly talking about the coming of the Messiah. 00:29:38.720 |
So, if you come to chapter 3, it makes sense. 00:29:41.720 |
Like, in the immediate context, we can't get that, "Oh, that's talking about the Messiah." 00:29:45.720 |
But you'll see, starting from chapter 6 and 7, that the Messianic prophecies are going to start to come out. 00:29:51.720 |
He says, up to this point, it's been very general. 00:29:55.720 |
Like, he's going to restore, he's going to restore. 00:29:57.720 |
And then so, as we start getting into the Messianic prophecies, there's going to be more details about his... 00:30:04.720 |
One of the... we call Isaiah... what do we call it? 00:30:15.720 |
Not just "A Messianic Prophet," but "The Messianic Prophet." 00:30:20.720 |
Because there are more Messianic prophecies in the book of Isaiah than any other book. 00:30:23.720 |
Which book is quoted more in the New Testament than any other book? 00:30:36.720 |
So, here, the branch he's referring to is most likely talking about the coming of the Messiah. 00:30:41.720 |
And he says, "When he comes, all sin will be cleansed through judgment and by spirit of burden." 00:30:49.720 |
So, initially, when he's talking about getting rid of sin, he's not simply saying he's going to die and then he's going to forgive everybody. 00:30:57.720 |
So, when he's talking about judgment and spirit of burden, he's not simply talking about if he's going to absorb our sins. 00:31:04.720 |
He says, "Israel, at least historically, judgment is coming upon them because of their sin." 00:31:11.720 |
And then he says, "But when that happens," in verse 5, "then the Lord will create over the whole side of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, smoke and shining of flaming fire by night. 00:31:26.720 |
For over all the glory there will be a canopy. 00:31:29.720 |
There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat and for the refuge and shelter from the storm and rain." 00:31:35.720 |
So, the description that we have is that once the sin is cleansed, what happens? 00:31:47.720 |
In the end, salvation isn't just being in heaven. 00:31:51.720 |
It's like, "Oh, get rid of all the bad stuff." 00:31:56.720 |
The reason why it's a safe place, that's described in verse 6, is because of the presence of God. 00:32:00.720 |
Which is what God was trying to tell the nation of Israel, but because they rejected Him, and then they had confidence in man, all this other stuff started happening. 00:32:09.720 |
But at the end, he says, "When the branch of the Lord, when He is restored and sin is wiped out and dealt with, then the presence of the Lord is going to come. 00:32:21.720 |
And when the presence of the Lord is going to come, there is safety and shelter." 00:32:25.720 |
That's the picture of salvation in chapter 4. 00:32:30.720 |
So, one thing I want to just kind of clarify or to reiterate before I let you go into your groups and have some final discussion. 00:32:53.720 |
Okay, so what I want to encourage you guys to do, again, the questions are in the back here. 00:33:03.720 |
While you guys are studying this, make sure, these questions are not like, most of them are pretty easy questions. 00:33:13.720 |
If you just read it and paid attention while you're reading it, you should be able to answer it. 00:33:17.720 |
This week, I have a couple questions in here where you're going to have to do some digging. 00:33:26.720 |
I ask you, on Friday's devotions, find at least two cross references in the New Testament that reflect the warnings given in verse 8 through 15. 00:33:35.720 |
So, you're going to have to do some outside stuff. 00:33:37.720 |
Okay, so this week's questions, you're going to have to do a little bit more digging and some other stuff. 00:33:51.720 |
Oh, sorry, I forgot to put it there. Thanks for telling me. 00:33:56.720 |
I don't have it there, so you're going to have to write it down. 00:34:02.720 |
So, please remind your husbands, if they're not here, because I don't have that on the sheet. 00:34:07.720 |
You know, the thing that I was kind of meditating on as I was reading through this and preparing for this is how, 00:34:18.720 |
because we're on this side of the covenant, we have a tendency to kind of look at sin as like, 00:34:22.720 |
yeah, you know, it's a mistake, or we've fallen short, and thank God. 00:34:26.720 |
And we kind of jump to His grace almost too quickly, you know, without really meditating and thinking upon the consequence of our sin. 00:34:36.720 |
And obviously, He saved us, and we have the seal of the Holy Spirit. 00:34:41.720 |
But at the same time, because we don't think too deeply about the consequence of sin, we don't deal with this seriously. 00:34:48.720 |
It's like, oh, you tripped up like everybody else, and then you trip up, you keep tripping up. 00:34:51.720 |
But just like anything else, if it's a sin that we want to conquer, we have to be more intentional, right? 00:34:57.720 |
If there's covenant in our heart, you can't just say, hey, you know, there's covenant, just like everybody else covets. 00:35:02.720 |
And if you just kind of hover, you know, just kind of skim over that, that covenant is never going to be dealt with, right? 00:35:08.720 |
Because it's just, you know, that's what it is. 00:35:11.720 |
I struggle with lust. Like, how? What does that lust look like in your life? 00:35:15.720 |
You know, how is it applying? Like, what is it doing to you spiritually? 00:35:19.720 |
How is that affecting your relationship? How does that affect your worship? 00:35:23.720 |
So, to take time to really think upon the devastation that sin brings, so that we would come to Christ and see solution in Christ. 00:35:34.720 |
So, when we are receiving forgiveness, that forgiveness is a tool that God has given us so that we can be empowered to fight our sin. 00:35:42.720 |
But when sin is kind of like, we sin, Jesus. Sin, Jesus. Lust, Jesus. 00:35:46.720 |
And then we kind of have this, you know, this generic, you know, superficial treatment of sin. 00:35:54.720 |
And of course, theologically we're correct, but we're not fighting sin, you know? 00:36:00.720 |
And that's why I think when we're studying Isaiah, it's important for us to wrestle with the details. 00:36:05.720 |
What ideology looks like in a man's heart? You know, where does our confidence, do I have confidence in God or man? 00:36:13.720 |
You know, do I feel more secure in the things that I have? 00:36:16.720 |
How much attention am I getting in my external abornment instead of God, right? 00:36:22.720 |
How much of his lordship has been replaced with something else? 00:36:27.720 |
And so, while we're studying through the book of Isaiah, that we don't just kind of skim over sin, restoration, sin, restoration. 00:36:36.720 |
But there's a reason why God takes time to reveal to the nation of Israel, right? 00:36:41.720 |
In detail, right? Sin by sin, you know, like step by step. 00:36:48.720 |
So that when Christ comes, like, yes, he's the solution, but solution for what? 00:36:53.720 |
If you recognize the sin and the devastation of sin, then the solution is going to be that much more powerful, right? 00:37:01.720 |
So it's not simply to kind of get us, "Oh, we should be down about our sin." 00:37:04.720 |
But again, recognizing the sin in our hearts, external, internal, in our family, in our wealth, in all this stuff. 00:37:11.720 |
That, that, that idolatry that tends to creep in our hearts may be revealed and then confessed and be forgiven. 00:37:18.720 |
Okay. Alright, so if you can take the rest of the time to discuss with your group. 00:37:24.720 |
And then afterwards, you take some time to pray and then stick around for a few minutes.