Trusting in God to Guide You

Transcript

I want to start off just by just by x promoting a couple uh podcasts um that I x watched uh recently I don't know how x many of you x um x watch good listen to uh good Chris x adelphian talks x um but they really do a nice job of x picking a wide variety of topics and a x wide variety of speakers and I think x they've done a particularly good job in x the last month with a couple of the x talks that they've selected they x selected one talk by a brother by the x name of Aaron McGee I I'm not really x sure where brother Aaron is from uh but x he gave an excellent talk on being x perfect x and blame and blameless I thought he had x a really wonderful perspective on uh the x challenging idea of what it means when x God says be when the scripture says be x perfect even as your father in Heaven is x perfect x um x the idea uh that he that he uh talked x about was that we're called x um to an impossible goal to be perfect x and yet really it's it's not about being x an annotated goal it's really about the x father's relationship x um with us it's really about a x reflection about the father and how he x sees us x um Aaron does an excellent job I think x in laying out x um his idea that being perfect is really x just being imperfect in the eyes of a x forgiving God x um so I would highly recommend x um if you get the chance if you're a x podcast listener uh-huh to give an air x give Aaron a listen x um the other one was uh done about a x month ago by Brother Jason Hensley and x that was on the life of Elijah and I x guess Jason gave those classes about uh x last summer at Idlewild and they're x really an interesting set of classes x Jason's always a good Bible student and x an interesting uh presenter uh but I x would highly recommend those x um as well x um the one that the one that I x particularly like and that that kind of x runs along with some of the things we're x going to talk about tonight was the one x where he talked about the drought you x know how Elijah you know appears and x says there'll be no rain until I say so x and then disappears uh Jason lays out x the idea and he lays it out strongly I'm x not going to spend time laying out his x ideas but he lays out the idea that x Isaiah made that pronouncement without x being told by God to do so x um and yet God still went along with it x and what that does is it sort of changes x your perspective on both the drought and x on Elijah x um and I think in a really interesting x way if you consider the life of Elijah x um his main focus was to teach the x people that the Lord is God remember he x has that great contest with um the x priests of Baal where he's basically x saying that Yahweh which of course we x refer to as the Lord that he is God that x he is the powerful God x um and that the other Lord which is what x Baal means is no God at all x and so that's really the essence of x Elijah's calling especially early on but x the life of Elijah is exactly the flip x side of that it's God teaching Elijah x that he is the Lord x and the point that Jason makes was the x reason that Elijah appeared and said x there's going to be a drought is because x it's spoken of in Deuteronomy that if x the people are rebellious that they'll x be a drought and and that was true the x people were rebellious but what Elijah x needed to learn was that God is in x charge and that God is the one that x makes these decisions and and I thought x it was a really interesting class and I x think it's a really interesting series x of subjects so think about the idea and x again uh Jason does an excellent job of x laying out why He suggests the idea that x Elijah gave this statement without being x pre-told by God to do so x but think about if that's true in the x life of Elijah as Elijah comes to learn x and this is one of the things that Jason x brings out as Elijah comes to learn x that uh he did this without without x God's consent even though God allowed it x to happen because God's will is always x done x um then he's got he's got to re-examine x his relationship with the people because x a lot of people died in that drought x because of the word of Elijah and so x um Jason makes the point that it was an x incredibly humbling experience for x Elijah to come to realize that in the x eyes of God we're all in the same boat x you know uh are there bigger Sinners x between you and I sure but in the eyes x of God once you're a sinner you're a x slave to sin and so as I pointed out x many times before there's two classes of x people in the eyes of God there are x sinners and there are people who don't x sit and the number of people who don't x sin is one and that's Christ now we can x of course be saved by Christ and God can x see us in a different he can choose to x see us in a different way and that's one x of the main lessons of Elijah he still x works with Elijah even though Elijah x does this he still works with him x throughout Elijah's life x and so it's the same with us you know he x still works with us even though we're x Sinners but he works with us because of x Christ not because of of who we are and x because of the righteousness and the x mercy and grace of God so I would highly x recommend x um Jason's uh talk as well if if you're x a podcast uh person it's called good x chrysalphian talks I know probably most x of you uh have heard of it before x um what I want to do this evening is x take a look at a couple of really x challenging chapters in the prophecy of x um Isaiah x and just for minutes just to consider x for a minute this verse here x this is in Isaiah 29 verses 1 and 2. now x imagine yourself you're doing your daily x readings and you're you know Isaiah is x there in the middle portion and you come x upon this chapter and it says woe to x Ariel to Ariel the city where David x dwelt Addie year to year let them kill x sacrifices yet I will distress Ariel and x there shall be heaviness and sorrow and x it shall be unto me as Ariel x now of course I know that everybody x there can give me a full dissertation as x to exactly what this is saying and of x course we can't you know can we come to x understand it of course we can't come to x understand it but when we read it just x on the surface and we see what it says x I don't know about you but I would not x have a single idea of what this is x talking about save for one and that's x why I highlighted uh that line about x um the city where David dwelt you know x when we read scripture especially some x of the more challenging passages of x scripture there's not a lot on the x surface that we're we're going to x understand and God actually understands x that and so when you look at this x passage you know before I go digging I x don't know what Ariel represents except x for the fact that I can understand what x the line means where it says the city x where David dwelt well I know the city x where David dwelt I know that that's x Jerusalem x so in the course of all this about x sacrifices and about distressing Ariel x and about shall be unto me as Ariel I x might not understand what those things x are x but I can understand what it means by x the city where David dwelt and for all x of us I think we can all understand x the basics of that one part of that x statement x and so here's the fascinating thing x if you can understand that statement x you're already ahead of the game in x comparison to the 99.9 of the world that x we live in because most people have no x idea what the city of David dwelt I can x speak for myself before I started x studying the Bible and and growing up I x would have not known uh even Who David x was I knew the name I knew that he had x something to do with the Bible but x that's all I really would have known so x I wouldn't have known where he'd do out x they certainly wouldn't have known that x he was a king x so so even just by the fact that you can x know that one small little verse is you x already one step ahead of the game x but God actually understands that x there's many things we don't understand x and so he literally gives us instruction x as to how to read x his word consider what it says just one x chapter back x and this is in verse 9 of Isaiah chapter x 28. x and it says Whom Shall he teach x knowledge this is Isaiah's talking about x the Lord God x and Whom Shall he make to understand x Doctrine x them that are weaned from the milk and x drawn from the breast for precept must x be upon precept precept upon precept x line upon line line up online hear a x little and they're a little and he's x talking about so who am I going to teach x understanding to x well I'm going to teach the person who x is as it says weaned from the milk and x drawn from the breast well because we x know a little bit about scripture we x know at least a hint of what that's x talking about because we know that the x writer of Hebrews actually talks about x this idea of do I have to continue to x give you the milk of the word you should x be at the point of enjoying the meat of x the work so what this expression means x where it says weaned from the milk and x drawn from the breast is people who are x no longer babes in the truth what it's x talking about is people that understand x the basic first principles of scripture x and if understanding Who David is sets x you into a smaller percentage of people x in the world understanding the first x principles of scripture sets you in the x absolute x infinitesimal number of people in the x world and yet here's the Lord saying x it's to those people that I'm going to x teach knowledge and give understanding x those who are weaned from the milk and x drawn from the breast those who have a x basic understanding of the foundational x principles of what God is talking about x and we understand that what we know x about scripture is not what most of the x world knows about scripture all those x basic principles about the nature of God x and the nature of Christ and our own x sinful nature Etc this is what it says x um in verses 11 and 13. x but with stamina now he's going to talk x about x the other people x he says for with stammering lips in x another tongue that is those who say I x can't understand God because he doesn't x really want me to understand x will he speak to this people that's x disobedient that's that's to these x people the quitters the people that that x don't persevere because that's what God x is asking us to do notice and I should x go back to the to the previous slide x there was one person who put him on to x me this idea about a little here and a x little there x that's the way scripture works and we x all know it because we've all x experienced it we've all come to a x passage and we thought I don't really x understand anything about that passage x like Isaiah 29 verse 1. but there's a x little bit I understand I understand x about Dave x and then we go away from it and this is x exactly what happened to me as far as x Isaiah 29 verse 1 was when I first read x it I didn't understand any of it we'll x talk about what Ariel means in a minute x I looked at that and I still didn't x understand it x but God knows that he understands that x that's the way it looks he knows it's x hard to understand these things and so x he says to you listen this is what you x do x you read a little you understand a x little you read a little more you follow x it line by line You'll pick up a little x bit here you'll pick up a little bit x there and pretty soon these things that x you pick up you'll be able to use for x the next passage for the next books for x the next thing and you your x understanding of things grows and your x understanding of things strengthens your x faith it gives you the power to or the x the motivation to continue x and God understands that he wants you to x know I get it you know it's gonna take x you a while it's gonna take some time x don't worry about it I'll work with you x you already have the basic principles in x in your head we shouldn't be x re-convincing ourselves of who the devil x is or reconvincing ourselves about the x nature of Christ you already know that x you already have it you already x understand it so so don't find yourself x always saying well I I need to make sure x that this is correct you already know x that it's correct you've already gone x down that road now let those let that x meat work build upon the little things x that you come across the little things x that you find and of course the other x thing that it's talking about is you x have to keep your nose in the book x that's otherwise precept upon precept x and the line upon line is meaningless x because you're not there anyway x and so you're not going to pick up a x little here and a little there you might x pick up some things in classes and that x kind of stuff but the beauty of our our x understanding of scripture is we can x understand it for ourselves we don't x have to go elsewhere to find somebody x who supposedly got you know a seminary x degree somewhere or some of that kind of x stuff it's there for the the most basic x of individuals myself uh you know to x understand these things x so then he talks about the people that x don't want to understand that's really x what this is talking about x but with stammering lips and another x tongue stammering lips is like mocking x that is you know I can't understand this x because God doesn't really want me to x know and that's what the vast majority x of people think about scripture God x doesn't want me to understand it that's x why it's so difficult uh he will speak x to this people that is the Disobedience x or the creditors the people that look at x it and go you know I can never x understand this I've told the story x before about uh the guy I worked with a x really nice God his name was Joe and I x was talking to Joe one day about the x Bible and he says oh I tried to read the x Bible and I said you did and he's he x said yeah I tried it's it's x incomprehensible and so I said to him x what did you read x and he said I read Revelation and I was x like oh dude you can't stop with x Revelation and he's like yeah it's all x the same I I of course he wanted nothing x else else to do with it well x you know you need to be intelligent x about it needless to say which is x basically what I said to Joe uh and to x whom he said this is the rest wherewith x you may cause the weary to rest and this x is the refreshing in other words this is x the way to do it x here's you know x and this is something that like it says x that this is something he says x throughout his word I'm offering you x rest I'm offering you refreshing but you x don't want to hear it yet they would not x hear x and to them but the word this is it's x such an interesting passage the way it x takes this phrase and gives it uh two x meanings one on how to understand and x the other on why people refuse to x understand but the word of the Lord was x upon unto them oh it's precept about x precept precept the precept line upon x line a little hair a little there x drudgery right x and we can all feel that way at times we x can all feel like it's like it's x drudgery you know sometimes you go x through those Chronicles chapters you x know and it feels like drudgery x sometimes we do the daily readings and x it feels like drudgery well we gotta we x gotta press on we can't let that let x that feeling you know consume us and let x us go you know what this this is a waste x of my time you know x that they might go that is fall backward x and be broken and snared and taken and x that's just what happens that's exactly x what happens when people need this idea x that it's all just drudgery it's all x just line up online and precept the bond x precept you got to give it time and you x got to trust in God and you've got to x know that God understands that he's made x it this way because he wants you to x person x he wants you to work through it he gives x you these trials in your life so that x you will work through it so that you x will put your trust in him rather than x in your other than in yourself x so I want to talk about the two chapters x and again when you first get to these x chapters when I first got to these x chapters I didn't understand any other x but you read it a little bit you you x consider it you think about it you walk x through it and sometimes it's easy to x understand and sometimes it's more x challenging to understand x so take uh Isaiah 28 verse 1. and the x two chapters by the way are really about x Pride that's what they're about about x two different aspects of pride x chapter 28 is pride in what you've got x pride in what you've accumulated in x chapter 29 is pride of yourself pride of x who you think who you think you are it's x that self-righteous Pride which I'll get x to in just a minute and I'll show you x why I say that so 28 to start off if x it's about pride is easy to say because x it says it right chapter 28 verse 1 says x woe to the crown Pride to the drunkards x of Ephraim so you've got the northern x kingdom of Ephraim and you've got the x southern Kingdom of Judah x and so in depth 2080 starts out he's x talking about Ephraim and we understand x what Ephraim represents we know that x Ephraim was a worldly country it was a x country that had wealth it was a country x that had money it was a country that had x opulence and it it trusted in those x things it was proud of those of those x things it says whose glorious beauty is x a Fading Flower which are on the head of x the fat valleys of them that are x overcome with wine and then it repeats x this idea of being drunk with wine drunk x with wine drunk with wine and it's all x about that Spirit of you know in fact x the word Ephraim means double blessing x right and that's exactly what the people x of Ephraim thought they had they thought x they had a double blessing in other x words we've got twice as much as x everybody else and they were proud of it x and of course it was going to bring them x down it was going to bring them bring x them way down which is exactly where 28 x chapter 28 codes x it says in verse 2 behold the Lord hath x Almighty and a strong one which has a x tempest of hail and a destroying storm x as a flood of Mighty Waters overflowing x shall cast down to the Earth with his x hand and I want you to recognize as we x go through these two chapters please is x the difference between God responds to x the pride of Ephraim and the pride of x the people in Jerusalem because he's x going to he's going to x um x it's going to work with both of them but x in some some cases he destroys and in x other cases he refines and we'll talk x about why that is in just a minute but x here with chapter 28 it talks about it's x going to be a tempest and a hail and a x storm and a flood and he's going to wipe x it out and that's the way God sees this x idea of pride of things pride of wealth x pride of money pride of all those things x that have nothing to do with God x we live in a world that is proud of x opulence but we're not the only people x who ever lived in the world that's proud x of oculus that world has been going on x for a long long time it's just at least x to me anyway more obvious today uh than x ever so the Lord is going to come with a x storm upon that kind of prod to just to x destroy it notice it's a it's a x destroying storm x now in verse 29 in chapter 29 you get x something a little bit different x notice first of all it's not so easy to x understand it was very easy to see the x pride of Ephraim in chapter 28 but then x you come to 29 and I've said that it's x about Pride well why do I say that well x it's because of this word Ariel it says x woe to Ariel to Ariel the city where x David dwelt x now the word aerial means but actually x it has two meanings x uh the first meaning or the most uh x common meaning of it is the lion of God x and so when you read this and and x first of all I shouldn't say first of x all again but one of the interesting x things about this Chaplet and one of the x reasons why as a Bible reader you might x see it and go well this is interesting x even though I don't understand it is x because this word Ariel is very unusual x in fact it's only found six times in x scripture it's found five times in the x first few verses of Isaiah 29 and it's x found once as a name in Chronicles uh x not Chronicles Ezra uh one of the people x that goes back to x um x back to Jerusalem with x um with Ezra is somebody named Ariel and x you mentioned he's mentioned once or x she's mentioned I know it's going to be x he actually x um so you get to the chapter and you go x why all of a sudden x is this word Ariel popping up x in Isaiah 29 like I say it comes up five x times in seven verses and yet you never x saw it before you never see it afterward x well the reason is because of the x meaning of the word x the first meaning like I said is the x lion of God x now if you take the expression the lion x of God and you read this verse x which is exactly what I did when I first x started looking at this chapter and x tried to figure out what Ariel meant and x why it's here x it doesn't make a lot of sense x when you think of the Lion of God for me x I think of the line of the tribe of x Judah the Lord Jesus Christ x I think of David uh the King as a lion x is the king of the jungle x but but this can't be those kinds of x lions or or if it is it's in a different x way because so replace the word arrow x with Lion of God if that's what it means x and we're sure it's it's about the x meaning of the word because the word x doesn't exist anywhere else x so it's not about some guy named Ariel x who pops up here and there it's not x about a place named Arrow the only x reason it's here is because Isaiah what x the Lord God through Isaiah wants us to x understand the meaning of this word so x that it'll bring out what Isaiah is x trying to talk about x so it says woe to the lion of God to the x line of God the city where David dwelt x and I do year to year let them kill x sacrifices yet I will distress the line x of God and there shall be no heaviness x and sorrow and it shall be unto me as x the lion of God x now x I've probably repeated that line a dozen x times and it doesn't help in any way x shape or form x and that's because there are actually x two meanings to this word x um Ariel in fact if you're watching x Sunday school on Sunday uh Steve was x talking about words that have double x meanings this is a word that has double x meaning and the other meaning for the x lion of God the other meaning for Ariel x is the altar of God x and when you think about the altar of x God x then it starts to make some sense that x this word is talking about the concept x of being a lion of God that is you know x a zealous for God x but the altar is talking about sacrifice x and is talking about what happens on the x altar the the thing that a lion has in x common with the altar is the power x involved a lion is a powerful animal the x ultra is an altar of burning it's an x altar of of fire the power of fire and x we know that fire can do one of two x things it can consume or it can purify x and so when you take this word and you x understand that there's two meanings to x this word in that Isaiah actually wants x you to understand the concept of the two x meanings x then you then it starts to be a little x bit clearer as to what Isaiah is trying x to bring across in fact I think one of x the reasons why he says Ariel twice here x is so that you'll understand there's two x meanings I don't think this says woe to x the lion of God to the altar of God x because you wouldn't say woe to the x altar of God but think look at it this x way when you look at it a different way x go to the lion of God to the lion of God x to the city where David dwelt okay x Jerusalem is the city where David dwell x it's the city where righteousness should x Prevail it's the city where the great x king is going to come x but it's not about the king x or it's not yet about the king now how x do we know that well we know that x because it says the city where David x dwelt and you say yes David's the king x and that's true but it doesn't say x where King David dwells or where the x King dwelt instead it just says where x David dwelt x so you're not talking about the x righteous King but you are talking about x the lion of God you are talking about x the strength of Jerusalem x and as we know from the time of Christ x the strength of Jerusalem was in their x religious zealotry that's what they x that's what they trusted in so you have x the lion of God the lion of God the city x where David dwelt add year to year let x them kill the sacrifices yet I will x distress the lion of God x and there shall be heaviness and sorrow x and it shall be unto me as the altar of x God x in other words what he's saying here is x you can be zealous but I'm going to x distress you because you are going to x take pride in that zealotry there shall x be heaviness and sorrow x there shall be struggles x and sorrow because of the idea that you x take pride in your zealotry that you x take that this is something that you x think you're accomplishing and boy we x can fall into that mistake ourselves we x can think we're just so wonderful x because we have this this truth and we x are incredibly blessed to have it no x doubt about it but it is not ours it is x the Lord's and so we have the altar of x God that adds these fiery trials that we x all go through that we might be purified x or x that we might be concerned and that goes x right back to the precept and precept x lying upon law how are you going to x respond to these fiery trials that you x go through how are you going to respond x to the difficulty of scripture and the x answer is you have to persevere and you x have to put your trust in God x verse x a lemon of Hebrews says now no x chastening for the present seemeth to be x joyous but Grievous x nevertheless afterwards it yield the x Peaceable fruit there's that peace x there's that the very thing that he x talked about uh at the beginning of the x chapter about who about in chapter 28 x about who can I give understanding to x who can I teach about this piece x well it yields the Peaceable fruits of x righteousness onto them which are x exercised thereby x that's that's our hope that that's x that's that's what guides us or helps us x through all the difficult trials that we x go through we know trials in chastening x is not is not joyous nobody enjoys x sinning nobody enjoys guilt nobody x enjoys feeling terrible for what for x what they did yet if you persevere as we x all understand this verse to be talking x about it yields the Peaceable fruits of x righteousness x unto them which are exercised thereby x that's the process that we're going x through that's the purification on the x altar on the altar of God I just lick my x fingers to change to push the button x as if I'm as if I'm turning a page in x the in the book uh chapter 29 verse 3 x and 4 says and this is now talking about x uh how he will respond to to the lion uh x who's proud of proud of himself he says x and I will Camp against thee roundabout x and I will lay Siege against thee with a x knob and I will raise forth against thee x and thou shalt be brought down or x brought low x and shall speak out of the ground and x thy speech shall be low Out of the Dust x and thy voice shall be as of one that x hath a familiar Spirit out of the ground x and thy speech shall whisper Out of the x Dust well that's a hard verse but what's x he what's he talking about we have a x better idea now of what he's talking x about because we understand of whom he's x speaking remember back in chapter 28 you x have this overwhelming flood x that the northern kingdom is going to be x wiped out and the people of Northern x community be wiped out by a flood well x the flood of course was a Syrian right x and they were wiped out x and and the ten tribes went away and you x never heard from them again x you're down in the South it was x different x Babylon came in right and the people x were taken away x like they were dead like they were x buried like they were gone x and yet there was still that small voice x and 80 years later they still came back x it's like a whisper x Out of the Dust x and that's just that's the purifying x process yes there is there is death and x there is difficulty Isaiah even in this x chapter is Whispering to us from the x dust so it it's actually a beautiful x voice verse about the purification x process that we all go through x and but then it immediately jumps to x those who those who persecute those who x seek to understand moreover the x multitude of thy strangers or enemies x shall be like dust and the multitude of x the terrible one shall be as a chaff x that passeth away ye it shall be as an x instant suddenly thou shall be visited x of the Lord of hosts with thunder and x with earthquake and with great noise and x with storming with Tempest and the flame x of devouring fire and he's talking about x those enemies x that they notice there's no voice coming x from them from the dust it says they x will be as chaff passing away well x that's exactly what happened to Babylon x Babylon was gone never to be heard from x again the principle we know is still x there it'll be there till the end but x the country itself is completely gone x and that's just what God says and then x he goes on I hope I think the next verse x is x yeah this is fascinating look what he x goes on to say and he's talking about x the enemies of Israel or the enemies of x of Ariel the enemies of Israel whether x Israel is is the lion of God or is x self-righteous or whatever it's still x Ariel and he says this about the Nations x that fight against Arrow that's what it x says and the multitude of all the x nations that fight against this Ariel x whether you know good or or x self-righteous or whatever x even all that fight against her and her x minions and that distressor shall be as x a dream of a night vision x and it shall be even as when a Hungry x Man dreameth and behold he eat it but he x awaketh and his soul is empty or as when x a thirsty man dreameth and behold he x drinketh but he awaketh and behold there x is faint and his soul hath appetite so x shall the multitude of the Nations be x that fight against Mount Zion and that x has been true throughout history x throughout history these these nations x whether it was Haman or the Romans or x the Nazis or whoever they fight against x Israel and they think well they've got x the complete upper hand that they're x going to destroy Israel they're going to x wipe them out and then when they're done x they look down and they got nothing x they get nothing the the Haman had x nothing he he was so sure he was going x to destroy all the Jews and he took him x on thinking oh this is going to be easy x he ends up putting up the Romans Israel x was just this tiny little offshoot of a x country you know what let's just go down x and wipe it out let's just go down and x destroy it didn't work x Nazis killed six million Jews didn't x work and that's just what this talking x about you think you got him you think x you do and guess what you don't and of x course the reason you don't is because x God is working with the Jews not because x the Jews defeated x um Haman not because the Jews defeated x the Romans or or the Nazis or whoever x because God's hand is involved and we x should be putting our trust in God I x love uh that series of voices what time x we got 806. x for the Lord hath poured out now he goes x back and he's talking about about x disobedient Israel again x and he says for the Lord hath poured out x upon you the spirit of deep sleep and x hath closed your eyes and the prophets x and your rulers the sea is hath he x covered and that's just what he did he x closed the eyes of the Jews because they x wouldn't accept Christ because they x wouldn't see x um the nature of their own character the x self-righteous nature of their own x character the Jews always see themselves x as first uh in the eyes of God and they x don't understand their Disobedience they x don't understand their x self-righteousness they don't under and x so they're blind and so and we know x they're blind they're still blind to x this day Paul talks about Paul talks x about that Veil that's been put over x their eyes for a period of time Isaiah x was talking about the exact same thing x and then verse 13 He says wherefore the x Lord said for as much as this people x draw near to me with their mouths x and with their lips do unto me x but have removed their hearts far from x me now think for a second about how x that's different from from x um Ephraim x Ephraim didn't draw near to God with x their mouth x he they didn't their lips did not honor x God x that's what the world does tell you the x world today doesn't you know draw near x with their lips to God x or honor God in any way shape or form x they don't care and the Ephraim x represents that's that form of Pride x that form of of opulence I don't need x God I don't care x now the Jews were different x because they were practicing their x religion that happens way back in the x beginning of chapter 29 right where it x says you can keep killing your x sacrifices year by year x but I'm still gonna I'm still going to x Humble you I'm still going to do it and x he says but have removed their hearts x From Me In Their Fear towards me is x taught by the precepts of men in other x words you think you're doing the x spiritual thing you're not all you're x doing is those same precepts those same x precept upon precept line upon line roll x out the sacrifice kill the sacrifice x bring it out next year kill it again x bring it out next year kill again x precept the concrete blind upon line if x we just keep doing that we're going to x be fine with God but their heart is far x from me x that's what they don't get that's what x they don't understand but verse 14 says x this x I'll first of all consider what Jesus x said when you go back I'm sorry let me x go back to this verse again this verse x actually should sound familiar to you x because Jesus picks up on it about this x idea of you know you speak to me with x your lips but your heart is far from me x and that's what this verse here is in uh x Matthew you Hypocrites well did Isaiah x the prophesy of you saying this people x draw nigh unto me with their lips and x honor Anatomy with their mouth and honor x me with their lips but their heart is x far from me but in vain do they worship x me teaching for doctrines the x Commandments of men x and he called the multitude and said x unto them here and understand not that x which Goes Forth in the mouth to file of x the man but that which cometh out of the x mouth this defileth a man and there's a x first principle right there x always they're always part of the x foundation of everything we believe x but this is the verse 14. x he says therefore behold x I will proceed to do a marvelous work x among this people that is among those x Jews among those people that honor me x with their lips but but their heart is x far from me even a marvelous work and x one day and we always know when you see x this idea of a marvelous work that's x Christ x no no doubt about it for the wisdom of x their wise men Shall Perish that's just x what Christ did he destroyed the wisdom x of the wise men with his words and the x understanding of their prudent men shall x be hid so Christ always comes into the x picture and and rightfully so because x he's the Redeemer Verse 18 says and in x that day shall the deaf hear the words x of the book x and the eyes of the blind shall see out x of obscurity and out of Darkness x the meek also shall increase their joy x in the Lord and the poor among men shall x rejoice in the Holy One of Israel x for the terrible one is brought to not x and this corner is consumed x and all notice what it says here this is x remarkable x and all that watch for iniquity x are cut off x now think about what that means all that x watch x for iniquity x that's the self-righteous x those that watch for iniquity x and and boy we can fall into this trap x ourselves x we can just wait for it and just see it x and just declare it and I'm just looking x for you all just just looking for it x that brother you know what he said on x Sunday you're not going to believe it x I'm just waiting for somebody to make a x mistake that's what he's talking about x that watch for iniquity that's just what x the Pharisees were doing let's catch x Jesus and what he had to say right they x were watching for it just give us a x chance and we'll tear you apart of x course Christ never did x that make a man an offender x for a word x boy that's familiar too x you just wait for somebody to say the x wrong thing the Pharisees just waited x for Jesus to say the wrong thing x and we can do the same thing in our wall x even with people on the outside world x the people who who don't know the truth x we just wait for them to say their own x thing so we can we can jump on x God hates that mentality x because none of us have the right to be x self-righteous x and lay a snare for him that reproveth x at the gate and reproofeth that the gate x is talking about the Gate of Justice x that's remember you you took your x problems to the gate x and they would lay a snare for people x Revenge x for bringing for bringing Justice to the x gay x and turn aside the just x for a thing of not in other words turn x the truth into a lie x and that's just what God hates x and we should never fall into that trap x now we're human x we make mistakes x God understands that he still works with x our weakness x but we have to pay attention to what we x say and pay attention to how we treat x others x but we need to be the humblest of people x and look what he says x next x notice the difference between the pride x and the strength of the Lion of God the x self-righteous Lion of God x and what he says here x but when he sees his children the work x of mine hands in the midst of him they x shall sanctify my name and sanctify the x Holy One of Jacob x and shall fear the god of Israel they x also that urge in spirit x shall come to understand them x now think about that expression for a x minute which says that urge in spirit x shall come to understand come to x understand that remember back at the x beginning he said who will I give x understanding to x and he said those who are ready to be x taken from the milk of the word and x given the meat of the word x and here it says those that feared in x spirit shall come down to earth and x spirit x shall come to understand that x sorry about us x he's talking about those who are are x taking of the meat of the word and yet x are making mistakes x just what the guy just what the writer x of Hebrews was talking about about you x know none of this is all Grievous x however x this is how we learn x those that urge in spirit tried to do x the right thing but did the wrong thing x we do it all the time I do it all the x time I shouldn't speak for you I do it x all the time x and yet to us he offers understanding x and they that murmured and I can do that x too x so I learned Doctrine so so what is this x telling us x it's telling us that we can put our x trust in God x it's telling us x that he will work with us x despite our weaknesses because of Christ x he's always willing to work with us x if we are willing x to put our faith and our trust in him if x we're willing x to go precept Vice precept line upon x line here a little there a little focus x on our Readings By the way x and in our walking Faith as well x and in our relationship to others x as well you hear a little there a little x a little bit more a little bit more he's x not asking you to turn into a saint x tomorrow he's not asking me to turn into x a saint tomorrow he's just asking us to x put our trust in him and to let him work x in our walk in in our walk in faith x you know who learned the lesson Was x Elijah x you know Elijah was a man of of great x understanding x and yet he went through a humbling x process x and he actually learned x the end of the game look what happens in x second chronicles 21. we know how Elijah x crosses and he goes away x and then later on he writes a letter We x Are All Amazed oh why did we hear from x Elijah again I hate this reason why we x heard from Elijah again x is because something he says in this x verse he's talking about one of the x Kings of Israel x and it came at writing to him from x Elijah the prophet saying thus saith the x Lord God of David thy father and he x Elijah's harsh in this writing there's x some one specific line I want you to x pick up on x and think about who Elijah was before x that man who who had the the lion the x zealotry to walk into and say x until I say something it's not going to x rain x because thou has walked has not walked x in the ways of Jehoshaphat they father x nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah but x has walked in the ways of the king of x Israel x and has made Judah in the inhabitants of x Jerusalem to go a horn x like to the whoredoms of the House of x Ahab and also has slain thy Brethren of x thy father's house x which were better x than I sell behold of the Great Plague x with the Lord Smite thy people and my x children thy wives and all thy goods and x thou shalt have great Sickness by x disease of thy bowels until thy bowels x fall out by reason of the sickness day x by day x the line I should have underlined it I x want you to notice is this line is of x thy father's house x which were better than thyself x those two points I want to make about x that line x the first is remember Elijah was the guy x we said I am zealous for the Lord and I x am the last one x there's nobody else but me x and the lesson that God taught him was x no no x I got seven thousand you're not the last x one and now here he is later and he's x talking to this uh terrible King x and he says you know what x your brothers were better than you x and let me explain to you what that word x better means because it doesn't mean x Superior x it means really gooder but you can't use x the Expression gooder because it's x terrible x so the right is the the the translate is x use the word better but better gives the x idea of superior it's not about being x Superior x it's about being kinder x it's about being nicer x it's about being a better person x in general x and I say I would have never seen that x before damn everybody was disobedient x everybody was terrible x but he learned the lesson x and God worked with and now here he is x in his last writing saying yeah x yeah we can all x be kind of x we can all be humbler x we can all put our trust in our faith in x God he's still condemning the king x because the King was terrible x but he's learned the lesson that God x wanted him to learn so that's what we x need to do 819 Jimbo actually I did x better than I thought I would x um x I hope that was helpful I think it's x fascinating chapters when we look at it x line by preset by precept line by line x but it's really a lesson about pride and x humility and that's the lesson we all x need x um each and every day certainly I do