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Go ahead and turn in your Bibles to

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Isaiah 46.

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For a moment, I was wondering if Caleb

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was going to say that when he said

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43.

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So we're going to look at a few

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chapters past Isaiah 43.

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Isaiah 46.

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Let's go ahead and read.

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Verse 1 and a little in there.

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Isaiah 46.

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Bell bows down.

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Nebo stoops.

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Their idols are on beasts and livestock.

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These things you carry are born as burdens

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on weary beasts.

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They stoop.

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They bow down together.

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They cannot save the burden, but they themselves

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go into captivity.

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Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, all

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the remnant of the house of Israel, who

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have been born by Me from before your

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birth, carried from the womb, even to your

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old age.

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I am He.

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And to your gray hairs, I will carry

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you.

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I have made and I will bear.

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I will carry and will save.

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To whom will you liken Me?

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And make Me equal and compare Me, that

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we may be alike?

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Those who lavish gold from the purse and

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weigh out silver in the scales and they

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hire a goldsmith and he makes it into

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a god.

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Then they fall down and they worship.

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Then they lift it to their shoulders and

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they carry it.

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They set it in its place and it

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stands there.

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It cannot move from its place.

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If one cries to it, it does not

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answer or save him from his trouble.

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Remember this and stand firm.

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Recall it to mind, you transgressors.

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Remember the former things of old, for I

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am God and there is no other.

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I am God and there is none like

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Me.

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Declaring the end from the beginning, from the

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ancient times, the things not yet done.

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Saying, My counsel shall stand and I will

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accomplish all of My purposes.

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And let's stop right there.

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What a glorious reality.

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Going on and on again.

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Isaiah and the Lord speaking through the prophet.

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We just behold the magnificent glory of who

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our God is.

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Let's pray.

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Father, Lord, I thank You that we have

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these incredible words that I hope of encouragement

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here that You are a God who carries

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His people.

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Lord, that You bear us.

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That we're laid upon You.

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That we're Your responsibility.

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And Lord, I need You to even carry

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me as I try to speak to the

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sheep about You being a God who carries

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His people.

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Lord, You've got to carry me to help

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even relay this in a way that is

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correct prayed, even that is something that's memorable

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by which we run to in times of

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discouragement, of struggle, of unbelief, that we go

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back to You.

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Because Lord, there is no other.

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Lord, there's none like You.

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Lord, all these illustrations and the imagery that

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You've given to us in Your Word, Lord,

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it fails to show us perfectly who You

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are and Your glory.

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And yet nonetheless, Father, we thank You that

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You do give us these different pictures and

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these ideas and these concepts.

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And You do reveal Yourself to us.

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And I pray even as I speak, Lord,

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if someone here has a distorted view of

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who You are, Lord, would You correct that?

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That they'd see You in this way of

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God who carries His people.

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And Lord, that they would cry out to

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You to carry them even today, that they

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would no longer bear their own burdens.

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But Lord, have You, the burden-bearing God,

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bear their burdens for them.

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Lord, I pray this in Christ's name, Amen.

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Well, the Lord has spoken to Israel about

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His plans to deliver them from Babylon.

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You have a lot of that happening in

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chapter 45.

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And in this chapter, I specifically want to

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think about and emphasize on God being a

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God who cares for His people.

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And the imagery given as we just saw

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is He's carrying us.

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He's carrying us.

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What amazing imagery this is.

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And He's bringing this imagery up even to

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reprove those who are stubborn in heart.

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If you look at the end of 46

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in v.

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12, He says, listen to Me, you stubborn

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of heart.

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So He's dealing with people who are stubborn.

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They've been exposed, even as Jonathan dealt with

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in the first hour.

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They've been exposed to so much truth, so

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much of who God is.

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And then He's reminding them of who He

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is.

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And one of the things He emphasizes is

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this contrast between Him being a God who

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carries them compared to all those idolaters who've

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got to go carrying their own gods.

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There are no gods at all.

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But do you and I know who the

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Lord is?

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Does this ever enter into your mind?

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That you have a God who's there like

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a father carrying a son, who's bearing your

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burdens and carrying you all the way to

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the end.

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Does that imagery ever come to your mind?

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And we're going to look at how it

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even more explicitly says that in Deuteronomy 1.

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But Isaiah 46, let's just look again at

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a couple of these verses that we read.

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"...Bell bows down, Nebo stoops."

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These are basically the false gods of Babylon.

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It's the idols or the images that were

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created after the false gods.

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You have this supposed god you worship and

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you hire someone to make an image of

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whatever it is that god supposedly looks like

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to represent them.

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And he says, these things you carry are

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born as burdens on weary beasts.

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Meaning, the animals, the oxen carry these idols.

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Are these oxen getting power from the idols

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to sustain them, to carry them?

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What happens to these oxen bearing these idols?

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They stoop down.

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They get weary.

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I mean, those supposed gods are of no

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help at all for these weary beasts.

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These beasts are weary being weighed down by

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them.

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There's no power coming from them.

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Verse 2, "...they stoop down, they bow down

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together.

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They cannot save the burden.

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But they themselves go into captivity."

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You hear that?

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They bow down together.

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The supposed god at the time when the

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beast is worn out and bows down, the

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god goes with it.

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Because any of the power that the supposed

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god has is intertwined in the beast.

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What's more real?

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The false god or the beast?

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The beast.

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And the beast is the one with the

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power.

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Right?

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There's no power in this idol.

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It's a false god.

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Maybe there's demonic power, but it wasn't manifested

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there through the devil to give any power

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to this animal.

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You know, when the beast runs out of

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gas, so does the false god.

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I mean, who would want to worship a

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god like that?

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It's pathetic to be honest.

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As we read those verses, the imagery that

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it portrays to us, v.

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7, they lift it to their shoulders.

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They carry it.

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And they set it in its place.

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And it stands there.

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It cannot move from its place.

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You have Israelites who saw the mighty miracles

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and the power of God in the wilderness

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and all of these years.

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They've seen all of these things.

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Captivity has come.

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They gave in to a lot of what

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Babylon taught in this idolatry, in this foolishness.

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I mean, who would want to worship a

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god that you've got to be the one

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carrying it and putting it into its place?

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It's absolutely pathetic.

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It should make us feel pity to those

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who worship such gods.

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But you know what one of those such

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gods is?

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It's a god many of us worshipped.

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It was a god of self.

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Right?

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We trusted in our own works.

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We trusted in our own power.

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We trusted that we were going to somehow

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reform our life and turn over a new

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leaf and make everything better.

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We maybe didn't have an actual image that

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we carved and we sat down and we

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bowed to, but in our hearts, we bowed

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daily to ourselves, living for self, and we

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bowed to a god that was no real

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god at all, that we could have died

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at any moment and it all would have

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been taken away.

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There's no real power within ourselves.

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I mean, these beasts can't even rescue the

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images.

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They all head off into captivity together.

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It's absolutely pathetic.

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That's what the god of materialism will do.

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That's what the god of self-righteousness is

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going to do.

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Look, when the enemy comes, it's going to

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have absolutely no power to deliver you.

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And then he shifts his focus right there

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in v.

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3.

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He says, listen to Me, O house of

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Jacob.

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Listen to Me.

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And he describes them.

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You who have been born by Me from

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before your birth.

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I mean, they have been sustained and supported

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by Him from the very beginning.

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From the very beginning of what?

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I would even add the universe.

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Because what does Paul say in Ephesians?

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He knew us in Him before the foundation

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of the world.

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It says here, before your birth.

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You see this contrast that he's trying to

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develop to put before their eyes between the

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false gods and the true God.

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There's this massive contrast.

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The images of the false god, their burdens

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on the back of a beast that wears

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the beast out, yet the true God, He

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actually takes you as His burden and He

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carries you.

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Even when your hair gets gray and you

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get old and you get to the end,

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guess who's still going to be there carrying

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you?

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Yahweh, the one true God.

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He's not going to grow weary.

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Even to old age.

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Isn't that right, Papa?

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He's carried you these many years.

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And even you see this email of Rick's

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Health.

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Look, we don't know what's going to happen

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to our brother Rick.

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Even already, what happened to his mind years

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ago.

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But you know what?

280
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There's a promise here.

281
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Even if your mind starts to give way,

282
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even if your body starts to fail, God

283
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will carry you to the end in the

284
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spiritual realm.

285
00:11:04,060 --> 00:11:06,780
This imagery here, it's not the Lord coming

286
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and physically picking us up.

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This is spiritually being sustained by the Lord.

288
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We need this.

289
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This doesn't mean there's a life with no

290
00:11:17,180 --> 00:11:17,660
trials.

291
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But it does mean there's a life with

292
00:11:19,820 --> 00:11:23,260
full support from the Creator when you're in

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the midst of those trials.

294
00:11:25,820 --> 00:11:27,200
Look at verse 4.

295
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He says, I am He.

296
00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:32,220
I will carry.

297
00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:33,840
I have made.

298
00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:35,280
I will bear.

299
00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:36,740
I will carry.

300
00:11:37,340 --> 00:11:40,280
And implying, I will save.

301
00:11:41,700 --> 00:11:45,680
There are multiple emphatic pronouns here where the

302
00:11:45,680 --> 00:11:48,440
Lord Himself is emphasizing this is something He

303
00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:48,940
will do.

304
00:11:49,580 --> 00:11:51,860
Notice, this isn't Isaiah saying the Lord will

305
00:11:51,860 --> 00:11:52,340
do it.

306
00:11:52,700 --> 00:11:55,580
It's the Lord Himself speaking and it's recorded,

307
00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:58,540
I will do this.

308
00:11:58,560 --> 00:12:00,440
The Lord wants it to be very clear

309
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to you.

310
00:12:01,180 --> 00:12:03,340
He's saying to you, He's saying to me,

311
00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:06,280
believer, I will carry you.

312
00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:09,440
I have made and I will bear.

313
00:12:09,680 --> 00:12:11,380
I will carry.

314
00:12:11,460 --> 00:12:13,400
This isn't something you're hearing secondhand.

315
00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:16,680
God is saying it specifically to you, specifically

316
00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:19,600
to me, in an emphatic way.

317
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We should take great comfort in that.

318
00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:25,080
We should not question the Lord's love here.

319
00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:28,980
So the Lord is saying that I'm taking

320
00:12:28,980 --> 00:12:33,440
full responsibility to tenderly care for you even

321
00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:35,720
into your old age and even to the

322
00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:36,320
very end.

323
00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:39,120
I don't know about you, but that comforts

324
00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:39,280
me.

325
00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:43,200
There's great comfort in that.

326
00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:45,940
And this truth does not contradict other passages

327
00:12:45,940 --> 00:12:47,220
that speak about who God is.

328
00:12:47,260 --> 00:12:49,540
It doesn't contradict anything in the last two

329
00:12:49,540 --> 00:12:50,540
weeks on church discipline.

330
00:12:51,460 --> 00:12:55,740
Again, discipline is something that illustrates the Father's

331
00:12:55,740 --> 00:12:56,060
love.

332
00:12:56,560 --> 00:12:57,120
Right?

333
00:12:57,220 --> 00:12:59,140
It's a means used to keep us, to

334
00:12:59,140 --> 00:13:00,020
get us to the end.

335
00:13:02,210 --> 00:13:05,210
Now, this is said to Israelites.

336
00:13:06,430 --> 00:13:09,450
He's talking about delivering them from Babylon and

337
00:13:09,450 --> 00:13:12,090
these idols being crushed to the ground and

338
00:13:12,090 --> 00:13:12,950
stooping low.

339
00:13:13,250 --> 00:13:14,810
I mean, does this really apply to me

340
00:13:14,810 --> 00:13:15,170
and you?

341
00:13:15,910 --> 00:13:18,330
Can we take this reality of God carrying

342
00:13:18,330 --> 00:13:20,990
His people and put that on us?

343
00:13:21,150 --> 00:13:24,010
Well, yeah, I agree the answer is yes.

344
00:13:25,090 --> 00:13:26,290
Why is it yes?

345
00:13:27,550 --> 00:13:29,470
For one, who are the true Jews?

346
00:13:30,850 --> 00:13:34,050
You and I, circumcised of the heart, born

347
00:13:34,050 --> 00:13:35,830
of the seed of the Word of God.

348
00:13:36,130 --> 00:13:37,490
You and I are the true Jews.

349
00:13:37,490 --> 00:13:39,430
We find all these promises and they find

350
00:13:39,430 --> 00:13:43,250
their ultimate fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ.

351
00:13:43,790 --> 00:13:46,630
We are the nation that He has created

352
00:13:47,450 --> 00:13:48,730
and is carrying.

353
00:13:49,230 --> 00:13:49,950
The church.

354
00:13:50,110 --> 00:13:52,930
The church is who He gave Himself up

355
00:13:52,930 --> 00:13:53,190
for.

356
00:13:53,270 --> 00:13:55,270
Ephesians 5 speaks about.

357
00:13:56,110 --> 00:13:58,730
And we've been born again by God.

358
00:13:58,830 --> 00:14:00,650
And Christ chose us in Him before the

359
00:14:00,650 --> 00:14:01,590
foundation of the world.

360
00:14:01,790 --> 00:14:03,750
And this imagery is something that the Lord

361
00:14:03,750 --> 00:14:05,610
Jesus even takes upon Himself.

362
00:14:06,550 --> 00:14:09,510
Luke 15, He says, when He has found

363
00:14:09,510 --> 00:14:12,230
it, a lost sheep, He lays it on

364
00:14:12,230 --> 00:14:14,310
His shoulders rejoicing.

365
00:14:15,110 --> 00:14:18,330
So you get this picture of Christ carrying

366
00:14:18,330 --> 00:14:24,050
you, bearing you, supporting you, sustaining you.

367
00:14:25,450 --> 00:14:26,750
We need that.

368
00:14:28,370 --> 00:14:29,330
And you know what?

369
00:14:29,550 --> 00:14:31,830
This isn't Him having someone else carry you.

370
00:14:32,070 --> 00:14:33,930
He's doing it personally.

371
00:14:34,770 --> 00:14:36,650
There's times I might get kind of weary

372
00:14:36,650 --> 00:14:38,890
and I'll have a little baby Boaz and

373
00:14:38,890 --> 00:14:40,430
I give him to someone else to carry.

374
00:14:40,670 --> 00:14:42,170
Can you hold my son for a moment?

375
00:14:42,610 --> 00:14:44,050
The Lord, He's not doing that.

376
00:14:44,630 --> 00:14:47,530
He's the one carrying you and supplying the

377
00:14:47,530 --> 00:14:50,530
strength for you and for me.

378
00:14:53,810 --> 00:14:55,910
You know, with false gods, the people must

379
00:14:55,910 --> 00:14:57,190
do the heavy lifting.

380
00:14:57,670 --> 00:15:00,330
But with the Lord, we are carried by

381
00:15:00,330 --> 00:15:01,030
Him.

382
00:15:01,130 --> 00:15:04,250
He's the one doing the heavy lifting for

383
00:15:04,250 --> 00:15:04,790
us.

384
00:15:04,790 --> 00:15:06,650
Again, verse 7, they lift it to their

385
00:15:06,650 --> 00:15:09,630
shoulders, they carry it, they set it in

386
00:15:09,630 --> 00:15:10,290
its place.

387
00:15:11,210 --> 00:15:13,430
I mean, how astonishing is that?

388
00:15:13,510 --> 00:15:16,310
Yet, we have a God who doesn't need

389
00:15:16,310 --> 00:15:17,210
us to carry Him.

390
00:15:17,270 --> 00:15:19,010
He doesn't need us to set Him in

391
00:15:19,010 --> 00:15:19,490
His place.

392
00:15:19,670 --> 00:15:21,290
He actually comes and He carries you and

393
00:15:21,290 --> 00:15:22,810
He sets you in the right place.

394
00:15:23,570 --> 00:15:25,590
He's the one putting you right where you

395
00:15:25,590 --> 00:15:26,090
should be.

396
00:15:26,330 --> 00:15:28,010
And we're going to see that's actually exactly

397
00:15:28,010 --> 00:15:29,610
what's happening to Israel right now.

398
00:15:29,890 --> 00:15:32,670
They're in a place where you might assume

399
00:15:32,670 --> 00:15:34,450
God stopped carrying them.

400
00:15:35,250 --> 00:15:36,310
They're in captivity.

401
00:15:36,870 --> 00:15:37,710
They've suffered.

402
00:15:38,070 --> 00:15:40,090
All of this has happened, yet God is

403
00:15:40,090 --> 00:15:41,850
the one who's carrying them in the midst

404
00:15:41,850 --> 00:15:42,750
of all of that.

405
00:15:44,270 --> 00:15:45,970
You know, even the Skinners.

406
00:15:46,370 --> 00:15:48,550
I just saw that text message this morning.

407
00:15:48,650 --> 00:15:51,850
It was heartbreaking knowing after 11 years this

408
00:15:51,850 --> 00:15:54,350
couple praying to have a child and they

409
00:15:54,350 --> 00:15:56,670
get pregnant and then the child is born

410
00:15:56,670 --> 00:15:58,690
at 28 weeks and then the baby just

411
00:15:58,690 --> 00:15:59,710
died this morning.

412
00:16:00,030 --> 00:16:02,270
And you think of that.

413
00:16:02,270 --> 00:16:04,030
The suffering they're going through.

414
00:16:04,670 --> 00:16:06,530
They've got to trust God is the one

415
00:16:06,530 --> 00:16:08,290
who's carried them into that.

416
00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:11,540
Eleven years.

417
00:16:12,340 --> 00:16:13,660
And they finally get pregnant.

418
00:16:13,780 --> 00:16:14,700
And then that happens.

419
00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:17,280
Did God fail to carry them?

420
00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:18,860
Is He carrying them today?

421
00:16:19,980 --> 00:16:22,560
I trust He is carrying them.

422
00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:25,820
Just like Israel, this is the Lord.

423
00:16:25,940 --> 00:16:28,020
He knows exactly what we need.

424
00:16:29,140 --> 00:16:31,620
But our mobility depends on the Lord.

425
00:16:31,620 --> 00:16:35,180
The false gods, their mobility, it depends on

426
00:16:35,180 --> 00:16:37,500
the beast and the people putting it in

427
00:16:37,500 --> 00:16:38,000
its place.

428
00:16:38,100 --> 00:16:41,480
What a stark contrast here that we see.

429
00:16:43,740 --> 00:16:46,320
God is giving us spiritual support.

430
00:16:46,420 --> 00:16:48,320
And we see this also in Deuteronomy 1.

431
00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:49,900
We're going to mainly be in Isaiah, but

432
00:16:49,900 --> 00:16:51,860
if you want to read this verse in

433
00:16:51,860 --> 00:16:57,520
Deuteronomy 1, this is another place where it

434
00:17:03,950 --> 00:17:05,890
just clearly says it.

435
00:17:09,630 --> 00:17:10,630
I'll start in v.

436
00:17:12,650 --> 00:17:13,150
29.

437
00:17:15,369 --> 00:17:17,829
And again, He's actually bringing all this up

438
00:17:17,829 --> 00:17:22,510
in the midst of correcting them on refusing

439
00:17:22,510 --> 00:17:24,630
to go into the land because of unbelief.

440
00:17:24,690 --> 00:17:26,030
I just find that interesting.

441
00:17:26,530 --> 00:17:28,970
The Lord brings this imagery up in the

442
00:17:28,970 --> 00:17:31,530
midst of disobedience from the nation of Israel.

443
00:17:32,370 --> 00:17:32,650
V.

444
00:17:32,730 --> 00:17:34,450
29, "...Then I said to you, do not

445
00:17:34,450 --> 00:17:35,890
be in dread or afraid of them.

446
00:17:36,410 --> 00:17:38,670
The Lord your God who goes before you

447
00:17:38,670 --> 00:17:40,450
will Himself fight for you.

448
00:17:40,450 --> 00:17:42,550
Just as He did for you in Egypt

449
00:17:42,550 --> 00:17:45,950
before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where

450
00:17:45,950 --> 00:17:48,270
you have seen how the Lord your God

451
00:17:48,890 --> 00:17:52,930
carried you as a man carries his son."

452
00:17:54,070 --> 00:17:57,330
The Lord your God carried you as a

453
00:17:57,330 --> 00:17:58,970
man carries his son.

454
00:17:59,090 --> 00:18:01,590
All the way that you went until you

455
00:18:01,590 --> 00:18:03,950
came to this place.

456
00:18:04,250 --> 00:18:04,750
And then v.

457
00:18:04,750 --> 00:18:08,690
32, "...Yet in spite of this word, you

458
00:18:08,690 --> 00:18:12,170
did not believe the Lord your God who

459
00:18:12,170 --> 00:18:13,950
went before you."

460
00:18:13,950 --> 00:18:16,210
You see, they saw it.

461
00:18:16,290 --> 00:18:17,410
God was carrying them.

462
00:18:17,510 --> 00:18:19,250
All these things were happening just like Jonathan

463
00:18:19,250 --> 00:18:20,590
talked about in the first hour.

464
00:18:21,450 --> 00:18:23,610
And then in spite of all of that,

465
00:18:24,550 --> 00:18:26,090
they abandoned the Lord.

466
00:18:26,990 --> 00:18:29,710
Brethren, this reminder about God being a God

467
00:18:29,710 --> 00:18:31,730
who carries you, this is something that Israel

468
00:18:31,730 --> 00:18:33,490
had in a time where some of them

469
00:18:33,490 --> 00:18:34,770
were becoming apostates.

470
00:18:35,050 --> 00:18:36,970
And it didn't even woo them over to

471
00:18:36,970 --> 00:18:38,670
keep following the Lord necessarily.

472
00:18:39,170 --> 00:18:41,150
Many of them continued on as they should.

473
00:18:41,390 --> 00:18:42,950
I mean, can our hearts be so hard

474
00:18:42,950 --> 00:18:45,330
to see the comparison of this idol and

475
00:18:45,330 --> 00:18:46,990
the true God and see how great our

476
00:18:46,990 --> 00:18:49,070
true God is, pathetic the idol is, and

477
00:18:49,070 --> 00:18:50,770
choose the idol over the true God?

478
00:18:51,930 --> 00:18:53,310
May that not happen.

479
00:18:54,170 --> 00:18:56,270
Isaiah 40, you don't need to turn there,

480
00:18:56,310 --> 00:18:57,770
but he says this similar language.

481
00:18:58,050 --> 00:18:59,930
"...He will tend His flock like a shepherd.

482
00:19:00,590 --> 00:19:02,570
He will gather the lambs in His arms.

483
00:19:03,250 --> 00:19:05,990
He will carry them in His bosom and

484
00:19:05,990 --> 00:19:09,490
gently lead those that are with young."

485
00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,920
See, brethren, what a visual image given to

486
00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:15,500
us of God's tender care.

487
00:19:16,140 --> 00:19:19,260
It doesn't say that God drags people or

488
00:19:19,260 --> 00:19:21,920
has someone else carry them, but He personally

489
00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:24,400
is going to carry you all the way

490
00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:25,480
to the end.

491
00:19:27,660 --> 00:19:29,300
And you know what this really speaks about?

492
00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:32,920
God's constant, dependable love.

493
00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:37,020
His love, the Bible says, it's from everlasting

494
00:19:37,020 --> 00:19:37,920
to everlasting.

495
00:19:38,380 --> 00:19:39,960
I mean, it's before you were born and

496
00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:41,760
it's lasting after you die.

497
00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:44,180
His love, it's not going away.

498
00:19:44,820 --> 00:19:46,640
It's not going to cease and desist.

499
00:19:47,620 --> 00:19:49,520
It's not just for you and I's lifetime.

500
00:19:49,700 --> 00:19:51,980
It's since forever until forever.

501
00:19:52,460 --> 00:19:53,260
It's eternal.

502
00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:55,180
The eternal love of Almighty God.

503
00:19:55,260 --> 00:19:57,020
And we can depend on that love.

504
00:19:58,180 --> 00:19:59,940
And this should make us say like the

505
00:19:59,940 --> 00:20:01,960
psalmist, what is man that you are mindful

506
00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:02,400
of him?

507
00:20:02,460 --> 00:20:04,020
I mean, Lord, how could You be mindful

508
00:20:04,020 --> 00:20:04,760
of us?

509
00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:06,940
And show us such tender care?

510
00:20:07,220 --> 00:20:09,300
We do not deserve this at all.

511
00:20:10,380 --> 00:20:12,740
And even Israel, who had such care when

512
00:20:12,740 --> 00:20:15,280
we rebelled, and yet You keep carrying them

513
00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:17,800
and giving them opportunity to repent and to

514
00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:18,840
not harden their heart.

515
00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:23,240
You know, if God will carry us, what

516
00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:24,400
does this suppose about us?

517
00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:26,680
If you and I have to be carried

518
00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:30,400
by God, what's the instant reality that you

519
00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:31,760
should recognize about yourself?

520
00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:34,340
We're weak and we need it.

521
00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:37,400
I mean, I need the Lord to be

522
00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:38,100
carrying me.

523
00:20:38,860 --> 00:20:41,400
As many have said, Christian maturity isn't you

524
00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:42,680
grow stronger and stronger.

525
00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:45,200
It's you grow weaker and weaker, more and

526
00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:46,960
more realizing the older you're in the faith,

527
00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:48,520
the more you need God for everything.

528
00:20:51,190 --> 00:20:53,030
How many of us as new Christians have

529
00:20:53,030 --> 00:20:55,430
too much reliance on our own performance, our

530
00:20:55,430 --> 00:20:58,470
own strength, what we coined zeal when it

531
00:20:58,470 --> 00:21:00,650
was really emotionalism, and we had to get

532
00:21:00,650 --> 00:21:03,250
away from that to truly rely on God

533
00:21:03,250 --> 00:21:04,030
and His power?

534
00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:10,160
You know, the idea here is this imagery

535
00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:11,860
of a journey, and we can't go it

536
00:21:11,860 --> 00:21:13,740
alone, and we need a Father there with

537
00:21:13,740 --> 00:21:16,660
strength to carry us all the way to

538
00:21:16,660 --> 00:21:17,160
the end.

539
00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:19,120
And again, when you hear this imagery, don't

540
00:21:19,120 --> 00:21:20,840
let imperfections enter into the image.

541
00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:22,600
You might have parents who have been hypocritical

542
00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:24,080
and they've not been a good example to

543
00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:26,340
you of this fatherly image of love.

544
00:21:26,420 --> 00:21:29,140
Don't let that enter in to your mind.

545
00:21:29,220 --> 00:21:30,960
Don't get a distorted view of God.

546
00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:32,900
Because even here, the Lord, He said in

547
00:21:32,900 --> 00:21:33,000
v.

548
00:21:33,100 --> 00:21:34,560
5, to whom will you liken Me and

549
00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:35,320
make Me equal?

550
00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:36,880
I mean, even this imagery here is going

551
00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:41,020
to fail to show who the Lord is

552
00:21:41,020 --> 00:21:42,900
in the fullest sense of this reality.

553
00:21:43,060 --> 00:21:45,440
But it gives us something to think about.

554
00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:47,120
I mean, how many of you parents have

555
00:21:47,120 --> 00:21:47,800
carried your son?

556
00:21:48,180 --> 00:21:49,200
You know, I've got little Boaz.

557
00:21:49,260 --> 00:21:51,100
He's nine months, I think, right now.

558
00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:52,080
Nine, eight or nine months.

559
00:21:52,120 --> 00:21:52,800
My wife would know.

560
00:21:53,060 --> 00:21:54,940
But I pick him up, I carry him.

561
00:21:56,860 --> 00:21:58,740
Am I like grabbing him by the collar

562
00:21:58,740 --> 00:22:00,040
and just hanging him over here?

563
00:22:01,500 --> 00:22:01,860
No.

564
00:22:02,340 --> 00:22:03,260
No, I'm carrying him.

565
00:22:03,260 --> 00:22:04,460
Now, I might do that for fun and

566
00:22:04,460 --> 00:22:05,800
tickle him or something like that.

567
00:22:07,220 --> 00:22:08,600
But there's protection.

568
00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:11,520
There's a tender care there.

569
00:22:12,860 --> 00:22:15,080
I know he doesn't have the ability to

570
00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:16,240
walk and to defend himself.

571
00:22:16,360 --> 00:22:17,680
I don't send him out the door into

572
00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:19,080
the world at eight months old.

573
00:22:20,020 --> 00:22:21,300
He's not going to make it.

574
00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:25,940
I mean, as a father, God as a

575
00:22:25,940 --> 00:22:29,400
father, and as a shepherd, our Lord, Yahweh,

576
00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:31,820
He's saying there's no situation which I'm unable

577
00:22:31,820 --> 00:22:32,800
to defend you.

578
00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:35,160
There's no situation by which I am absent.

579
00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:37,680
Right, you know, the world talks about the

580
00:22:37,680 --> 00:22:38,500
absent father.

581
00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:39,780
You know, the kid had the game and

582
00:22:39,780 --> 00:22:41,080
the dad didn't make it to the game

583
00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:42,100
and the kid is disappointed.

584
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:44,000
Brethren, that's never going to happen to you

585
00:22:44,500 --> 00:22:45,080
as a Christian.

586
00:22:45,180 --> 00:22:46,420
God, your Father is there.

587
00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:47,600
He's not absent.

588
00:22:47,780 --> 00:22:49,100
He didn't miss the situation.

589
00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:51,260
Even if it seems grim and a trial,

590
00:22:51,360 --> 00:22:52,980
He brought you into the situation.

591
00:22:53,660 --> 00:22:55,080
You've got to trust Him there.

592
00:22:55,420 --> 00:22:56,860
You've got to realize He is God and

593
00:22:56,860 --> 00:22:57,280
no other.

594
00:22:57,400 --> 00:22:59,320
You've got to not have your mind corrupted

595
00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:01,420
with false views of God that the world

596
00:23:01,420 --> 00:23:02,900
wants to put forward here.

597
00:23:03,260 --> 00:23:05,500
And they specifically want to attack His sovereign

598
00:23:05,500 --> 00:23:06,940
control over everything.

599
00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:09,560
And even the Jews that apparently were giving

600
00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:11,240
in to that to some extent because He

601
00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:13,800
had just said to them in the chapter

602
00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:17,680
prior, 45.7, He just said, I'm Lord

603
00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:18,380
and there's no other.

604
00:23:18,460 --> 00:23:20,700
He said, I form light and create darkness.

605
00:23:21,180 --> 00:23:23,540
I make well-being and create calamity.

606
00:23:23,660 --> 00:23:25,280
I am the Lord who does all these

607
00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:25,460
things.

608
00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:26,980
Why would He need to tell that to

609
00:23:26,980 --> 00:23:27,840
His people again?

610
00:23:31,710 --> 00:23:34,390
Man, their hearts get hardened to God's sovereign

611
00:23:34,390 --> 00:23:34,970
control.

612
00:23:36,030 --> 00:23:37,590
May that not happen to us.

613
00:23:38,530 --> 00:23:41,410
So, I want to give you briefly nine

614
00:23:41,410 --> 00:23:45,410
reasons why you should...

615
00:23:45,410 --> 00:23:47,970
Let me put it like this.

616
00:23:48,270 --> 00:23:50,450
In one way, the Lord's already carrying all

617
00:23:50,450 --> 00:23:52,470
of us in the sense that the only

618
00:23:52,470 --> 00:23:54,310
reason you're alive, even if you're a lost

619
00:23:54,310 --> 00:23:56,310
atheist here today, is because God has given

620
00:23:56,310 --> 00:23:57,270
you breath, right?

621
00:23:57,490 --> 00:24:00,450
But there's another sense where God is carrying

622
00:24:00,450 --> 00:24:03,130
the believer as a father carries the son.

623
00:24:03,550 --> 00:24:05,070
And I'm going to give you nine truths

624
00:24:05,070 --> 00:24:06,550
that you should all the more want to

625
00:24:06,550 --> 00:24:09,430
embrace that reality and keep believing God and

626
00:24:09,430 --> 00:24:10,610
not get out of His arms.

627
00:24:11,030 --> 00:24:13,130
And then these same nine reasons, if you're

628
00:24:13,130 --> 00:24:15,090
not a Christian, I hope they would compel

629
00:24:15,090 --> 00:24:18,010
you to want to cry out and say,

630
00:24:18,110 --> 00:24:19,290
Lord, carry me.

631
00:24:19,730 --> 00:24:23,710
I'm finished with these false idols that can't

632
00:24:23,710 --> 00:24:27,110
even defend themselves and can't even move.

633
00:24:30,150 --> 00:24:33,730
So the first reason, which I hope it's

634
00:24:33,730 --> 00:24:36,170
an obvious reason and it's all over even

635
00:24:36,170 --> 00:24:38,390
what Caleb read in the Lord's Supper and

636
00:24:38,390 --> 00:24:40,910
it's all over Isaiah 45 and 46, the

637
00:24:40,910 --> 00:24:42,330
first reason why you should want the Lord

638
00:24:42,330 --> 00:24:43,810
to carry you is because there's no other.

639
00:24:44,650 --> 00:24:44,910
Right?

640
00:24:44,970 --> 00:24:45,970
I mean, you've got no other options.

641
00:24:47,170 --> 00:24:50,010
If you choose the other option, the false

642
00:24:50,010 --> 00:24:50,850
gods, guess what?

643
00:24:50,930 --> 00:24:52,510
You've got to carry the false god.

644
00:24:53,030 --> 00:24:54,530
Or you get your ox to do it.

645
00:24:54,970 --> 00:24:56,430
It's not going to be carrying you.

646
00:24:56,490 --> 00:24:57,750
It's not going to be sustaining you.

647
00:24:57,750 --> 00:24:59,630
Don't go that route.

648
00:25:01,090 --> 00:25:02,470
There's no hope there.

649
00:25:02,910 --> 00:25:04,670
So the first reason is there's no other

650
00:25:04,670 --> 00:25:05,150
option.

651
00:25:05,590 --> 00:25:08,630
And eight times in these chapters, the statement

652
00:25:08,630 --> 00:25:10,530
is said there is no other.

653
00:25:11,210 --> 00:25:12,350
There is no other.

654
00:25:12,390 --> 00:25:13,210
It's just the Lord.

655
00:25:13,350 --> 00:25:13,890
He's it.

656
00:25:14,610 --> 00:25:17,430
There's no other so-called gods or no

657
00:25:17,430 --> 00:25:18,150
gods at all.

658
00:25:19,490 --> 00:25:22,810
These are loud statements declaring the Lord is

659
00:25:22,810 --> 00:25:23,190
sovereign.

660
00:25:26,020 --> 00:25:28,540
Look at what happened in verse 46.

661
00:25:29,300 --> 00:25:30,400
Bell bows down.

662
00:25:31,460 --> 00:25:32,680
Nebo stoops.

663
00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:38,440
You know what was just quoted in verse

664
00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:39,740
23 of the previous chapter?

665
00:25:40,140 --> 00:25:44,680
Paul alludes and quotes this text from Isaiah

666
00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:46,640
in verse 23 and applies it to Jesus

667
00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:47,180
Christ.

668
00:25:48,020 --> 00:25:51,320
To me, every knee shall bow and every

669
00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:53,840
ton shall swear allegiance.

670
00:25:54,780 --> 00:25:56,900
Brethren, that's going to happen one day.

671
00:25:56,900 --> 00:25:59,080
Every single knee in this room and every

672
00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:01,000
single ton whether in heaven or on earth

673
00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:02,640
or under the earth, it's all going to

674
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:04,160
declare that the Lord is the Lord and

675
00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:04,920
there is no other.

676
00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:07,820
And even right here in Isaiah's day, guess

677
00:26:07,820 --> 00:26:08,580
what was happening?

678
00:26:09,020 --> 00:26:09,920
Knees were bowing.

679
00:26:09,980 --> 00:26:11,580
The false gods were falling down.

680
00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:12,400
They were worthless.

681
00:26:13,300 --> 00:26:15,100
Every knee's going to bow and then boom,

682
00:26:15,180 --> 00:26:16,560
verses later, there you've got it.

683
00:26:16,580 --> 00:26:17,520
Bell bows down.

684
00:26:18,540 --> 00:26:19,340
Nebo stoops.

685
00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:22,360
Whether it's Dagon or whoever, they can't stand

686
00:26:22,360 --> 00:26:23,280
before Christ.

687
00:26:23,940 --> 00:26:25,200
He's the only one.

688
00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:27,040
He is Yahweh.

689
00:26:27,260 --> 00:26:29,380
Paul is appealing in Philippians 2.

690
00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:30,540
He is the Lord.

691
00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:32,260
And there is no other.

692
00:26:36,340 --> 00:26:37,940
Eventually, every knee is going to bow.

693
00:26:40,090 --> 00:26:40,330
V.

694
00:26:40,410 --> 00:26:45,190
25, 24, Only in the Lord it shall

695
00:26:45,190 --> 00:26:47,510
be said of me are righteousness and strength.

696
00:26:48,170 --> 00:26:48,430
Right?

697
00:26:48,530 --> 00:26:49,670
I mean, it's very exclusive.

698
00:26:49,850 --> 00:26:50,830
Only in the Lord.

699
00:26:51,410 --> 00:26:52,150
Only in the Lord.

700
00:26:52,310 --> 00:26:53,870
What's John 14, 6 say?

701
00:26:53,990 --> 00:26:55,230
What did Jesus come and say?

702
00:26:55,350 --> 00:26:56,730
I am the way, the truth, and the

703
00:26:56,730 --> 00:26:56,910
life.

704
00:26:56,990 --> 00:26:58,430
No one comes to the Father but through

705
00:26:58,430 --> 00:26:58,630
Me.

706
00:26:58,630 --> 00:27:00,170
What did Paul say in 1 Timothy?

707
00:27:00,310 --> 00:27:02,290
There's one mediator between man and God.

708
00:27:03,110 --> 00:27:03,490
One.

709
00:27:03,630 --> 00:27:03,990
One.

710
00:27:04,050 --> 00:27:04,530
That's it.

711
00:27:05,070 --> 00:27:07,430
There's only one, and it's the Lord.

712
00:27:07,710 --> 00:27:09,890
And yet, men would have the utter foolishness

713
00:27:09,890 --> 00:27:12,350
to do what 46, 6 says, and they

714
00:27:12,350 --> 00:27:14,810
would go and hire a goldsmith and make

715
00:27:14,810 --> 00:27:16,150
it into a god.

716
00:27:16,870 --> 00:27:19,090
Then they will fall down and worship.

717
00:27:22,100 --> 00:27:23,560
Did you know I did that for six

718
00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:24,500
years of my life?

719
00:27:26,340 --> 00:27:30,160
I hired a computer programmer by paying money

720
00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:32,220
to that company, and they created this little

721
00:27:32,220 --> 00:27:34,220
game, and I went and I lived in

722
00:27:34,220 --> 00:27:36,740
that world for six years, 14 hours a

723
00:27:36,740 --> 00:27:36,980
day.

724
00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:38,940
I worshiped it.

725
00:27:39,060 --> 00:27:41,320
That was my life when I was lost.

726
00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,200
Look, some of you young people, you have

727
00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:45,020
the same God.

728
00:27:45,420 --> 00:27:46,600
It has a different name.

729
00:27:46,700 --> 00:27:48,460
It might not be whatever.

730
00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:50,880
And the name might change and you might

731
00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:54,240
go from one game to another game, but

732
00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:54,960
that's what it is.

733
00:27:54,980 --> 00:27:55,680
It's your life.

734
00:27:56,120 --> 00:27:58,860
My identity was found in this character in

735
00:27:58,860 --> 00:27:59,380
a game.

736
00:28:00,660 --> 00:28:03,320
Kids, it can't defend you.

737
00:28:03,360 --> 00:28:04,000
It's fake.

738
00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:05,740
A man made it.

739
00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:10,280
A company produced it to get you to

740
00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:11,920
want to play it all day long.

741
00:28:13,100 --> 00:28:14,760
And you're going to lose your soul over

742
00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:15,020
that?

743
00:28:15,260 --> 00:28:17,320
You're just going to rot your life away?

744
00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:25,400
Matthew Poole, he said, if you're tempted or

745
00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:27,420
inclined at any time to exchange me for

746
00:28:27,420 --> 00:28:30,140
an idol, do me and yourself this right.

747
00:28:30,980 --> 00:28:34,080
Seriously consider whether you can find another God

748
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:35,860
who will be more able and more ready

749
00:28:35,860 --> 00:28:37,420
to do you good than I have been.

750
00:28:38,060 --> 00:28:39,420
You're not going to find that.

751
00:28:39,860 --> 00:28:42,200
You will never find that.

752
00:28:42,220 --> 00:28:43,100
Because there is no other.

753
00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:45,780
And every other reason I'm going to give

754
00:28:45,780 --> 00:28:48,180
basically overflows out of this first reason that

755
00:28:48,180 --> 00:28:49,760
God is God and there is no other.

756
00:28:51,380 --> 00:28:53,880
The second reason why you should want to

757
00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:56,100
be carried by the Lord is that He

758
00:28:56,100 --> 00:28:59,380
alone can bear the biggest burden you have.

759
00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:02,060
And some people don't even realize the biggest

760
00:29:02,060 --> 00:29:04,420
burden they have, but the obvious biggest burden

761
00:29:04,420 --> 00:29:05,760
you and I all have is our sin.

762
00:29:06,180 --> 00:29:08,180
And there's one person who can bear that

763
00:29:08,180 --> 00:29:09,840
burden of your sin, and it's the Lord

764
00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:10,600
Jesus Christ.

765
00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:13,200
It's not a priest at a Catholic church.

766
00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:14,960
It's the great high priest who's seated in

767
00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:15,220
heaven.

768
00:29:15,700 --> 00:29:20,420
And Isaiah says chapters later in Isaiah 53,

769
00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:23,820
he says that Christ bore the sin of

770
00:29:23,820 --> 00:29:24,140
many.

771
00:29:25,220 --> 00:29:28,000
He alone can bear your sin and bear

772
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:29,800
the anger and wrath of God that you

773
00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:31,260
deserve for your sin.

774
00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:33,600
Christ alone can do that.

775
00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:39,440
And make you clean where He'll carry you

776
00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:40,760
as a father carries a son.

777
00:29:43,340 --> 00:29:44,300
That's astonishing.

778
00:29:44,500 --> 00:29:46,700
This is the holy, holy, holy, holy God.

779
00:29:47,500 --> 00:29:47,860
You know what?

780
00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:50,120
There's a law given to the Israelites that

781
00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:51,700
if you killed an insect and at any

782
00:29:51,700 --> 00:29:53,720
point you carried part of the carcass, you

783
00:29:53,720 --> 00:29:55,200
became unclean and you had to leave the

784
00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:56,040
camp for the evening.

785
00:29:57,500 --> 00:29:59,640
How is it that God comes and He's

786
00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:01,880
able to carry us and not be unclean?

787
00:30:03,300 --> 00:30:05,600
Brethren, it's because we have the righteousness of

788
00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:06,000
Christ.

789
00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:08,220
He looks at us and He sees we're

790
00:30:08,220 --> 00:30:09,940
as righteous as Christ is because we have

791
00:30:09,940 --> 00:30:13,140
Christ's record on our account.

792
00:30:13,300 --> 00:30:15,700
It's absolutely astonishing.

793
00:30:17,950 --> 00:30:19,770
A third reason you should cry out to

794
00:30:19,770 --> 00:30:22,490
Him to carry you is because He carries

795
00:30:22,490 --> 00:30:24,870
you like a father carries a son.

796
00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:30,480
Notice, what did they carry their idols on?

797
00:30:32,580 --> 00:30:33,380
Weary beasts.

798
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:36,840
God doesn't strap you on an ox, brother

799
00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:37,480
or sister.

800
00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:39,980
He doesn't get the ox to carry you.

801
00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:41,240
He doesn't strap you on the ox.

802
00:30:41,300 --> 00:30:42,480
He's not like a lot of the Amazon

803
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:44,020
delivery guys, which we all get a lot

804
00:30:44,020 --> 00:30:45,680
of Amazon these days and I've got the

805
00:30:45,680 --> 00:30:47,560
window open and I see how they're carrying

806
00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:48,060
the package.

807
00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:50,380
Some of them are carrying it close.

808
00:30:50,460 --> 00:30:51,760
A lot of them are rushed and ready

809
00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:53,720
to go throw that down no matter what's

810
00:30:53,720 --> 00:30:54,260
in the package.

811
00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:56,740
That's not how the Lord is with us.

812
00:30:57,100 --> 00:30:58,060
He's very careful.

813
00:30:58,220 --> 00:31:00,100
He's tenderly carrying for you.

814
00:31:00,420 --> 00:31:00,960
And guess what?

815
00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:02,800
He's not leaving you at anyone else's door.

816
00:31:02,900 --> 00:31:04,160
He's going to carry you all the way

817
00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:04,760
to the end.

818
00:31:06,850 --> 00:31:08,650
And He does it as a father carries

819
00:31:08,650 --> 00:31:13,410
a son because we are His children, right?

820
00:31:13,410 --> 00:31:14,150
We've been adopted.

821
00:31:14,690 --> 00:31:16,190
We are co-heirs with Christ.

822
00:31:16,930 --> 00:31:17,850
He is our Father.

823
00:31:18,190 --> 00:31:19,950
It's not just He carries us like a

824
00:31:19,950 --> 00:31:20,990
father carries a son.

825
00:31:21,090 --> 00:31:22,250
He is our Father.

826
00:31:23,130 --> 00:31:25,330
We're no longer children of the devil, but

827
00:31:25,330 --> 00:31:27,650
through Christ we've become children of God.

828
00:31:28,670 --> 00:31:30,830
The fourth reason you should believe in Christ

829
00:31:30,830 --> 00:31:32,390
to carry you and you should keep on

830
00:31:32,390 --> 00:31:34,510
believing Christ to carry you is that He

831
00:31:34,510 --> 00:31:37,110
will never stoop down in weariness or weakness.

832
00:31:38,050 --> 00:31:38,470
Right?

833
00:31:38,470 --> 00:31:39,770
He's never going to get to that point.

834
00:31:39,850 --> 00:31:41,790
I mean, think about the longevity of the

835
00:31:41,790 --> 00:31:44,090
Lord's commitment to you.

836
00:31:45,590 --> 00:31:49,730
46, for even to your old age, I

837
00:31:49,730 --> 00:31:50,050
am He.

838
00:31:50,650 --> 00:31:53,230
And to gray hairs, I will carry you.

839
00:31:53,230 --> 00:31:54,930
I'm never going to leave you.

840
00:31:54,970 --> 00:31:56,310
I'm never going to forsake you.

841
00:31:56,870 --> 00:31:59,070
Therefore, you can confidently say the Lord is

842
00:31:59,070 --> 00:31:59,530
your Helper.

843
00:31:59,630 --> 00:32:01,410
I will not fear what man can do

844
00:32:01,410 --> 00:32:04,130
for me because my Father is carrying me

845
00:32:04,130 --> 00:32:05,910
in the midst of all of these trials,

846
00:32:06,210 --> 00:32:07,550
in the midst of these difficulties.

847
00:32:08,090 --> 00:32:10,570
He is fully committed to me to the

848
00:32:10,570 --> 00:32:10,890
end.

849
00:32:11,590 --> 00:32:14,350
And even before birth, He was committed to

850
00:32:14,350 --> 00:32:14,610
me.

851
00:32:15,190 --> 00:32:16,970
No one else can give you such an

852
00:32:16,970 --> 00:32:17,970
offer of longevity.

853
00:32:18,190 --> 00:32:18,790
They can't.

854
00:32:19,270 --> 00:32:20,770
And it's not just the longevity, it's the

855
00:32:20,770 --> 00:32:22,490
power and the strength in the midst of

856
00:32:22,490 --> 00:32:25,690
that longevity, the steadfast love that is from

857
00:32:25,690 --> 00:32:26,910
everlasting to everlasting.

858
00:32:27,110 --> 00:32:28,130
He will never grow weary.

859
00:32:29,330 --> 00:32:32,570
I remember prior to being saved, maybe 16,

860
00:32:32,710 --> 00:32:34,790
17 years ago, there was a viral video

861
00:32:34,790 --> 00:32:39,650
on YouTube of Dick Hoyt pushing his son

862
00:32:39,650 --> 00:32:41,650
who had cerebral palsy and could not walk,

863
00:32:41,730 --> 00:32:43,050
could only talk through a computer.

864
00:32:43,510 --> 00:32:46,070
He pushed him in his wheelchair on these

865
00:32:46,070 --> 00:32:46,850
marathons.

866
00:32:46,910 --> 00:32:49,050
And I think they did 32 Boston marathons.

867
00:32:50,050 --> 00:32:52,370
And I wasn't a Christian at the time.

868
00:32:52,450 --> 00:32:53,550
I remember it had the song, I Can

869
00:32:53,550 --> 00:32:54,570
Only Imagine playing.

870
00:32:54,630 --> 00:32:56,730
It was very emotional just seeing this father

871
00:32:57,490 --> 00:32:59,550
love his son to go through all these

872
00:32:59,550 --> 00:32:59,950
races.

873
00:33:00,110 --> 00:33:01,210
And the son didn't do anything.

874
00:33:01,590 --> 00:33:03,990
He literally just sat there and got pushed.

875
00:33:04,190 --> 00:33:05,990
If anything, he was encouraging his own dad

876
00:33:05,990 --> 00:33:08,590
and that's why his dad was doing it.

877
00:33:08,590 --> 00:33:09,330
But you know what happened?

878
00:33:09,890 --> 00:33:12,730
In 2001, Rick, the dad, at 80 years

879
00:33:12,730 --> 00:33:13,630
of age, he died.

880
00:33:14,230 --> 00:33:15,370
His son is still alive.

881
00:33:16,450 --> 00:33:18,450
His son can't be pushed by the father

882
00:33:18,450 --> 00:33:18,930
anymore.

883
00:33:19,050 --> 00:33:20,150
The father is gone.

884
00:33:20,630 --> 00:33:21,450
Death took him.

885
00:33:21,850 --> 00:33:23,510
Brethren, that's never going to happen to you

886
00:33:23,510 --> 00:33:23,850
and me.

887
00:33:24,670 --> 00:33:26,130
God never dies.

888
00:33:27,710 --> 00:33:29,730
Christ who did die is raised from the

889
00:33:29,730 --> 00:33:30,910
dead and seated in heaven.

890
00:33:32,970 --> 00:33:34,430
And you know, Rick's father, yeah, he maybe

891
00:33:34,430 --> 00:33:36,690
pushed him on 32 Boston marathons, but there

892
00:33:36,690 --> 00:33:37,950
was a lot of time in Rick's life

893
00:33:37,950 --> 00:33:39,530
that his father wasn't pushing him.

894
00:33:39,870 --> 00:33:41,890
He was resting because he needed more strength.

895
00:33:42,750 --> 00:33:43,990
Not so with the Lord.

896
00:33:44,750 --> 00:33:45,930
He's never going to rest.

897
00:33:47,350 --> 00:33:50,190
Rick's father, his love didn't endure forever.

898
00:33:50,590 --> 00:33:52,290
But not so with the Lord.

899
00:33:52,770 --> 00:33:55,290
It's amazing, millions of people saw that clip

900
00:33:55,290 --> 00:33:56,410
17 years ago.

901
00:33:56,710 --> 00:33:58,690
You'd think if they loved that clip and

902
00:33:58,690 --> 00:34:00,430
how it displayed the love of a father,

903
00:34:00,550 --> 00:34:02,190
that if they heard about God the Father

904
00:34:02,190 --> 00:34:04,090
and His Son Jesus Christ, that they'd all

905
00:34:04,090 --> 00:34:05,170
believe on Christ.

906
00:34:06,030 --> 00:34:07,850
I mean, why would they reject such love?

907
00:34:08,790 --> 00:34:11,730
That shows you how hard in sin is.

908
00:34:12,389 --> 00:34:15,770
People hear the truth, they reject it, and

909
00:34:15,770 --> 00:34:18,010
they worship their false gods and their idols.

910
00:34:22,530 --> 00:34:24,750
You know, brethren, does all this mean we

911
00:34:24,750 --> 00:34:25,810
shouldn't be serving the Lord?

912
00:34:25,889 --> 00:34:26,070
No.

913
00:34:26,170 --> 00:34:27,210
You know what it all the more means?

914
00:34:27,250 --> 00:34:29,270
We should be serving the Lord as Peter

915
00:34:29,270 --> 00:34:31,449
says, but it's with the strength that God

916
00:34:31,449 --> 00:34:32,070
supplies.

917
00:34:32,489 --> 00:34:33,949
That's what we're relying on.

918
00:34:34,150 --> 00:34:35,949
A fifth reason to give up and fall

919
00:34:35,949 --> 00:34:37,810
in the arms of the Lord is that

920
00:34:37,810 --> 00:34:39,190
He knows the best route.

921
00:34:40,110 --> 00:34:44,850
Since He declares the end from the beginning.

922
00:34:45,469 --> 00:34:47,090
I mean, if you let the Lord carry

923
00:34:47,090 --> 00:34:48,429
you, you're not going to get lost on

924
00:34:48,429 --> 00:34:49,730
the road even if you think you did

925
00:34:49,730 --> 00:34:50,370
get lost.

926
00:34:51,050 --> 00:34:52,630
Look at 4,610.

927
00:34:55,449 --> 00:34:58,830
I am He, there's none other, declaring the

928
00:34:58,830 --> 00:35:02,690
end from the beginning and from ancient times

929
00:35:02,690 --> 00:35:05,790
the things not yet done.

930
00:35:07,330 --> 00:35:10,210
The Lord is saying, look, I'm not in

931
00:35:10,210 --> 00:35:12,570
the race carrying you hearing an announcer say

932
00:35:12,570 --> 00:35:14,070
what is on the course, but I am

933
00:35:14,070 --> 00:35:15,830
already announcing to you what is on the

934
00:35:15,830 --> 00:35:16,050
course.

935
00:35:16,130 --> 00:35:17,230
I already know what's going to come.

936
00:35:17,590 --> 00:35:19,030
I don't need to hear it from anyone.

937
00:35:19,610 --> 00:35:21,110
I already know what the end is going

938
00:35:21,110 --> 00:35:21,530
to bring.

939
00:35:21,930 --> 00:35:23,610
I already know what is yet not to

940
00:35:23,610 --> 00:35:24,950
occur and what will occur.

941
00:35:25,570 --> 00:35:27,710
God has no uncertainties with Him.

942
00:35:29,430 --> 00:35:31,650
Who wouldn't you want carrying you but someone

943
00:35:31,650 --> 00:35:32,310
like that?

944
00:35:32,970 --> 00:35:35,310
This isn't getting some ride from a person

945
00:35:35,310 --> 00:35:36,690
who you have no idea where they're taking

946
00:35:36,690 --> 00:35:36,850
you.

947
00:35:36,930 --> 00:35:38,230
This is a person who is your best

948
00:35:38,230 --> 00:35:41,830
interest in view in every little turn in

949
00:35:41,830 --> 00:35:44,090
your life, every little street that God takes

950
00:35:44,090 --> 00:35:44,430
you down.

951
00:35:44,510 --> 00:35:45,770
There was a purpose for that.

952
00:35:48,940 --> 00:35:51,240
He carries us down many roads that we

953
00:35:51,240 --> 00:35:54,060
otherwise honestly would not have gone down if

954
00:35:54,060 --> 00:35:55,100
it had been up to us.

955
00:35:55,860 --> 00:35:57,260
We wouldn't have taken that turn.

956
00:36:02,380 --> 00:36:04,260
I mean, a stark example of this, and

957
00:36:04,260 --> 00:36:05,740
we don't have time to get into this,

958
00:36:05,820 --> 00:36:08,740
but if you look at 4,501, it

959
00:36:08,740 --> 00:36:11,320
says, the Lord says to His anointed to

960
00:36:11,320 --> 00:36:15,780
Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to

961
00:36:15,780 --> 00:36:18,440
subdue the nations before you.

962
00:36:19,100 --> 00:36:24,060
God uses a pagan to deliver His people

963
00:36:24,060 --> 00:36:27,260
Israel and He gives this pagan the title

964
00:36:27,260 --> 00:36:30,120
anointed to go be used by God to

965
00:36:30,120 --> 00:36:30,840
deliver the Jews.

966
00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:33,700
That's not how you would think things up.

967
00:36:33,860 --> 00:36:35,560
And you wouldn't think things up, the Jews

968
00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:36,620
being in captivity.

969
00:36:37,140 --> 00:36:39,340
And the Jews ultimately, they didn't even like

970
00:36:39,340 --> 00:36:40,520
this idea necessarily.

971
00:36:40,700 --> 00:36:44,860
4,509, He says to them, Woe to

972
00:36:44,860 --> 00:36:46,480
him who strives with him who formed him,

973
00:36:46,500 --> 00:36:47,900
a pot among earthen pots!

974
00:36:47,940 --> 00:36:49,440
Does the clay say to him who forms

975
00:36:49,440 --> 00:36:50,260
it, what are you making?

976
00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:52,860
I mean, just like Romans 9, men want

977
00:36:52,860 --> 00:36:55,080
to question God with the turns that He

978
00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:56,920
takes them in the paths of their life.

979
00:36:57,880 --> 00:36:59,320
But who are we, O man, to answer

980
00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:00,200
back to God?

981
00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:04,540
Israel must not despise the Lord's plans even

982
00:37:04,540 --> 00:37:06,700
though calamity was a part of those plans.

983
00:37:06,780 --> 00:37:08,660
And we have no idea what calamity in

984
00:37:08,660 --> 00:37:11,100
Ukraine is part of God's plans and how

985
00:37:11,100 --> 00:37:12,860
He's using that for good for the Gospel

986
00:37:12,860 --> 00:37:14,140
to go forth right now.

987
00:37:16,380 --> 00:37:18,620
The Jews struggled at times to see how

988
00:37:18,620 --> 00:37:22,560
the Lord was using Cyrus and other providences

989
00:37:22,560 --> 00:37:23,340
for good.

990
00:37:23,500 --> 00:37:24,880
We don't want to struggle with that.

991
00:37:24,940 --> 00:37:27,100
We want to believe the Lord.

992
00:37:28,400 --> 00:37:33,880
He says in 45.11, Thus says the

993
00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:35,420
Lord, the Holy One of Israel, the One

994
00:37:35,420 --> 00:37:37,220
who formed Him, ask Me of things to

995
00:37:37,220 --> 00:37:37,460
come.

996
00:37:37,460 --> 00:37:40,240
Will You command Me concerning My children and

997
00:37:40,240 --> 00:37:41,460
the works of My hands?

998
00:37:41,560 --> 00:37:42,800
I made the earth.

999
00:37:43,240 --> 00:37:45,840
And it's like the Lord speaking to Job.

1000
00:37:46,100 --> 00:37:48,960
It's just God is continually making us shrink

1001
00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:50,180
back into our place.

1002
00:37:50,800 --> 00:37:53,180
He's making us get really, really small and

1003
00:37:53,180 --> 00:37:55,540
keep our mouths shut and realize who am

1004
00:37:55,540 --> 00:37:58,540
I compared to this God, this living God.

1005
00:37:59,500 --> 00:38:02,600
A sixth reason to have the Lord carry

1006
00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:04,920
you is that He keeps His Word all

1007
00:38:04,920 --> 00:38:05,560
of the time.

1008
00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:10,960
46.11, He says, I have spoken and

1009
00:38:10,960 --> 00:38:12,280
I will bring it to pass.

1010
00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:14,360
I have purposed and I will do it.

1011
00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:17,680
You don't find hesitancy here with God.

1012
00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:20,180
It's pretty certain I'm going to do this

1013
00:38:20,180 --> 00:38:21,980
because He can, because He has the power.

1014
00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:26,840
There's so many other places we could go

1015
00:38:26,840 --> 00:38:28,840
to see this reality, but remember that you

1016
00:38:28,840 --> 00:38:30,400
want God to carry you because He's a

1017
00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:31,780
God who keeps His Word all the time.

1018
00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:34,660
A seventh reason to keep trusting the Lord

1019
00:38:34,660 --> 00:38:37,000
to carry you is that He's already proven

1020
00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:39,040
Himself to you if you're a Christian.

1021
00:38:39,720 --> 00:38:42,060
He's already proven Himself to you in many,

1022
00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:42,840
many ways.

1023
00:38:43,660 --> 00:38:45,200
That's what we saw in Deuteronomy, right?

1024
00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:46,980
He said, where you have seen how the

1025
00:38:46,980 --> 00:38:49,660
Lord your God carried you as a man

1026
00:38:49,660 --> 00:38:50,620
carries his son.

1027
00:38:51,060 --> 00:38:52,480
But what did they do?

1028
00:38:52,720 --> 00:38:55,940
Yet in spite of seeing how the Lord

1029
00:38:55,940 --> 00:38:58,580
had carried them all those years, in spite

1030
00:38:58,580 --> 00:39:00,200
of that, they rebelled.

1031
00:39:01,820 --> 00:39:02,860
They rebelled.

1032
00:39:03,640 --> 00:39:04,800
In spite of that.

1033
00:39:05,780 --> 00:39:07,840
God has proven Himself to us.

1034
00:39:07,900 --> 00:39:09,320
He's proven Himself to the Jews.

1035
00:39:09,460 --> 00:39:10,340
Isn't that amazing?

1036
00:39:10,680 --> 00:39:12,620
There might be people among us who've had

1037
00:39:12,620 --> 00:39:15,420
God prove Himself to them 20,000 times,

1038
00:39:15,580 --> 00:39:17,680
and in the end, they'll still deny Christ

1039
00:39:17,680 --> 00:39:19,140
and go back to their sin.

1040
00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:23,100
And they can't dare look at God and

1041
00:39:23,100 --> 00:39:25,000
say, well, the Lord wasn't there.

1042
00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:25,360
No.

1043
00:39:25,980 --> 00:39:27,860
Just like with Israel, the Lord's there.

1044
00:39:28,140 --> 00:39:30,080
The Lord is doing many things.

1045
00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:32,880
It's on them if they're going to reject

1046
00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:35,480
Him despite all that He has marvelously done

1047
00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:36,000
for them.

1048
00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:39,100
An eighth reason to give up trying to

1049
00:39:39,100 --> 00:39:41,120
carry yourself and to ask the Lord God

1050
00:39:41,120 --> 00:39:42,640
to carry you is because the weight is

1051
00:39:42,640 --> 00:39:43,520
too heavy for you.

1052
00:39:45,180 --> 00:39:46,420
You can't bear the weight.

1053
00:39:50,710 --> 00:39:52,410
Isn't that what Paul said in 2 Corinthians

1054
00:39:52,410 --> 00:39:52,810
1?

1055
00:39:53,950 --> 00:39:56,130
He said this trial that happened where I

1056
00:39:56,130 --> 00:39:57,410
had a spirit of life, it was so

1057
00:39:57,410 --> 00:40:00,250
I'd no longer rely on myself, but on

1058
00:40:00,250 --> 00:40:01,530
God who raises the dead.

1059
00:40:01,530 --> 00:40:03,330
God wants us to rely on Him.

1060
00:40:03,690 --> 00:40:05,430
Moses got to the point where he's even

1061
00:40:05,430 --> 00:40:07,650
complaining in Numbers 11 and saying, did I

1062
00:40:07,650 --> 00:40:09,810
give birth to these people that I should

1063
00:40:09,810 --> 00:40:11,430
carry them in my bosom as a nurse

1064
00:40:11,430 --> 00:40:13,210
carries a nursing child to the land that

1065
00:40:13,210 --> 00:40:14,050
you swore they're fathers?

1066
00:40:15,370 --> 00:40:17,190
I'm not able to carry all these people

1067
00:40:17,190 --> 00:40:17,530
alone.

1068
00:40:17,590 --> 00:40:18,950
The burden is too heavy for me.

1069
00:40:18,990 --> 00:40:19,770
That's right, Moses.

1070
00:40:19,850 --> 00:40:20,430
It is.

1071
00:40:21,110 --> 00:40:23,070
When God gives Him 70 more people, He

1072
00:40:23,070 --> 00:40:23,970
delegates it.

1073
00:40:24,290 --> 00:40:26,790
But ultimately, it's God working through those people

1074
00:40:26,790 --> 00:40:28,750
that anything good ever happens.

1075
00:40:29,290 --> 00:40:30,990
It's the same thing in our lives.

1076
00:40:31,410 --> 00:40:33,390
It's only by the Lord, His strength.

1077
00:40:34,150 --> 00:40:36,370
Brethren, if you face something right now in

1078
00:40:36,370 --> 00:40:37,650
your life and you feel like it's too

1079
00:40:37,650 --> 00:40:40,030
heavy for you, you should absolutely acknowledge the

1080
00:40:40,030 --> 00:40:41,550
fact that it is too heavy for you.

1081
00:40:41,850 --> 00:40:43,390
And you should look at the reality that

1082
00:40:43,390 --> 00:40:44,630
it's not too heavy for God.

1083
00:40:45,290 --> 00:40:46,970
And He's able to sustain you in the

1084
00:40:46,970 --> 00:40:47,430
midst of that.

1085
00:40:47,490 --> 00:40:48,310
You should ask Him.

1086
00:40:48,510 --> 00:40:50,610
Even just lay down and say, Lord, carry

1087
00:40:50,610 --> 00:40:50,890
me.

1088
00:40:52,650 --> 00:40:54,850
That doesn't mean you're passive and do absolutely

1089
00:40:54,850 --> 00:40:55,230
nothing.

1090
00:40:55,350 --> 00:40:57,170
No, we don't just lay around and supernaturally

1091
00:40:57,170 --> 00:40:57,830
get moved.

1092
00:40:58,350 --> 00:40:59,750
It's not what the text is saying.

1093
00:41:00,990 --> 00:41:07,020
Not that God couldn't do that, but it's

1094
00:41:07,020 --> 00:41:08,520
a look of faith to the Lord.

1095
00:41:08,620 --> 00:41:10,780
A ninth reason, the last one I had,

1096
00:41:10,960 --> 00:41:14,140
to be carried by the Lord is that

1097
00:41:14,140 --> 00:41:15,540
He's willing to carry anyone.

1098
00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:18,180
You're not going to find that, right?

1099
00:41:18,460 --> 00:41:19,980
A lot of people here, they're not willing

1100
00:41:19,980 --> 00:41:22,320
to just carry along journey anyone's child.

1101
00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:24,920
The people leaving Ukraine, they're probably carrying their

1102
00:41:24,920 --> 00:41:25,560
own babies.

1103
00:41:26,020 --> 00:41:26,760
Their own children.

1104
00:41:27,500 --> 00:41:29,920
They've got a specific love for those children.

1105
00:41:30,500 --> 00:41:32,160
That's how God's love is for you and

1106
00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:32,380
I.

1107
00:41:34,960 --> 00:41:37,820
Craig pointed out in Isaiah 43 about bringing

1108
00:41:37,820 --> 00:41:40,120
sons and daughters from afar, and that's even

1109
00:41:40,120 --> 00:41:43,060
right here in 46.13. He says, I

1110
00:41:43,060 --> 00:41:44,500
will bring near My righteousness.

1111
00:41:44,600 --> 00:41:45,820
It's not far off.

1112
00:41:46,820 --> 00:41:49,840
And for some people, us Gentiles, we were

1113
00:41:49,840 --> 00:41:51,000
those who were far off.

1114
00:41:51,620 --> 00:41:55,040
But the Lord has brought in Christ Jesus

1115
00:41:55,040 --> 00:41:56,960
those who were once far off have been

1116
00:41:56,960 --> 00:41:59,660
brought near by the blood of Christ.

1117
00:42:01,100 --> 00:42:02,420
God's willing to carry you.

1118
00:42:02,440 --> 00:42:04,280
It doesn't matter what you've done, what sin

1119
00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:04,660
you've done.

1120
00:42:04,740 --> 00:42:05,940
It doesn't matter if you're here today and

1121
00:42:05,940 --> 00:42:09,900
you're homosexual or you're an atheist.

1122
00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:11,940
It doesn't matter if you're an atheist or

1123
00:42:11,940 --> 00:42:13,820
a Satanist involved in child sacrifice.

1124
00:42:14,020 --> 00:42:16,620
God's willing to take you and wash you

1125
00:42:16,620 --> 00:42:17,600
of all of your sins.

1126
00:42:17,680 --> 00:42:19,620
Even like it talks about in Ezekiel 16,

1127
00:42:19,740 --> 00:42:21,340
one of the greatest love chapters in the

1128
00:42:21,340 --> 00:42:21,580
Bible.

1129
00:42:21,920 --> 00:42:23,540
He's willing to come and to take you

1130
00:42:23,540 --> 00:42:24,920
and to clothe you and make you His

1131
00:42:24,920 --> 00:42:25,220
own.

1132
00:42:25,220 --> 00:42:26,860
And then He's willing to carry you all

1133
00:42:26,860 --> 00:42:28,400
the way to the end and sustain you

1134
00:42:28,400 --> 00:42:30,120
through every single trial that you face.

1135
00:42:31,540 --> 00:42:32,900
At the same time, is He going to

1136
00:42:32,900 --> 00:42:35,620
be disciplining you when you try to buck

1137
00:42:35,620 --> 00:42:37,640
and wrestle in His arms and not submit?

1138
00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:38,060
Yeah.

1139
00:42:38,760 --> 00:42:40,200
That's His love too though.

1140
00:42:40,840 --> 00:42:43,280
So look, all of this, Christ is willing

1141
00:42:43,280 --> 00:42:44,700
to carry you to pick you up.

1142
00:42:45,800 --> 00:42:48,540
Are you going to ask Him to take

1143
00:42:48,540 --> 00:42:48,760
you?

1144
00:42:50,020 --> 00:42:51,860
All this begs the question, how can I

1145
00:42:51,860 --> 00:42:52,900
be carried by God?

1146
00:42:53,780 --> 00:42:55,940
Well, the obvious first answer is you need

1147
00:42:55,940 --> 00:42:56,360
to believe.

1148
00:42:56,560 --> 00:42:57,800
You need to believe He is who He

1149
00:42:57,800 --> 00:42:59,100
says He is and that He's willing to

1150
00:42:59,100 --> 00:42:59,700
take you.

1151
00:43:00,920 --> 00:43:03,180
Jesus said in Matthew 11-28, Come to

1152
00:43:03,180 --> 00:43:05,960
Me, all who labor and are heavy laden,

1153
00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:07,100
and I will give you rest.

1154
00:43:07,500 --> 00:43:08,540
You've got to come to Christ.

1155
00:43:08,720 --> 00:43:10,820
You've got to believe that Christ really did

1156
00:43:10,820 --> 00:43:12,940
die, that He really did raise, that He

1157
00:43:12,940 --> 00:43:14,940
really is seated in Heaven, that He's willing

1158
00:43:14,940 --> 00:43:16,600
to not only forgive you of your debt,

1159
00:43:16,700 --> 00:43:18,840
but He's willing to change your heart and

1160
00:43:18,840 --> 00:43:20,400
make you a new person, a new man,

1161
00:43:20,440 --> 00:43:22,440
a new woman, a new child, give you

1162
00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:23,140
new desires.

1163
00:43:24,160 --> 00:43:25,280
You want to be carried by God?

1164
00:43:25,320 --> 00:43:26,480
You've got to submit to His will.

1165
00:43:26,740 --> 00:43:28,540
The Israelites, they didn't want to be resigned

1166
00:43:28,540 --> 00:43:29,460
to the will of God.

1167
00:43:29,620 --> 00:43:31,680
They wanted to shrink back in their fear

1168
00:43:31,680 --> 00:43:33,280
and unbelief and not go any further.

1169
00:43:33,420 --> 00:43:35,940
Even though God had carried them that long,

1170
00:43:36,680 --> 00:43:38,100
they wanted to go back.

1171
00:43:39,240 --> 00:43:41,740
Hosea 11, And it was I who taught

1172
00:43:41,740 --> 00:43:43,620
Ephraim to walk.

1173
00:43:43,680 --> 00:43:45,360
I took them up by their arms, but

1174
00:43:45,360 --> 00:43:46,840
they did not know that I healed them.

1175
00:43:46,880 --> 00:43:48,600
I led them with cords of kindness, with

1176
00:43:48,600 --> 00:43:49,420
bands of love.

1177
00:43:49,420 --> 00:43:51,360
I became to them as one who eases

1178
00:43:51,360 --> 00:43:52,640
the yoke on their jaws.

1179
00:43:52,840 --> 00:43:54,480
I bent down to them and I fed

1180
00:43:54,480 --> 00:43:54,860
them.

1181
00:43:55,560 --> 00:43:57,140
They shall not return to the land of

1182
00:43:57,140 --> 00:43:59,380
Egypt, but Assyrians shall be their king, because

1183
00:43:59,380 --> 00:44:01,260
they have refused to return to Me.

1184
00:44:02,040 --> 00:44:02,840
Isn't it amazing?

1185
00:44:03,060 --> 00:44:06,360
You would think the kind, gentle, grace, and

1186
00:44:06,360 --> 00:44:09,540
tender care of God would cause someone to

1187
00:44:09,540 --> 00:44:10,800
never abandon the faith.

1188
00:44:11,380 --> 00:44:13,120
But the Bible says the opposite.

1189
00:44:13,740 --> 00:44:17,100
The Bible has replete examples of people seeing

1190
00:44:17,100 --> 00:44:20,120
the tender mercy of the loving God, and

1191
00:44:20,120 --> 00:44:22,400
they reject it for a love that is

1192
00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:25,840
going to fade away from false idol that

1193
00:44:25,840 --> 00:44:27,700
can't even carry itself or move itself.

1194
00:44:32,130 --> 00:44:33,690
How can I be carried by God?

1195
00:44:33,750 --> 00:44:35,150
I've got to believe Him today.

1196
00:44:35,530 --> 00:44:37,030
I've got to keep on believing Him.

1197
00:44:37,290 --> 00:44:39,010
I've got to recall and remember.

1198
00:44:39,550 --> 00:44:42,130
That's what Isaiah 46, verse 8 says there.

1199
00:44:42,150 --> 00:44:44,090
Remember this and stand firm.

1200
00:44:44,490 --> 00:44:47,510
Recall it to mind, you transgressors.

1201
00:44:47,610 --> 00:44:49,270
Remember the former things of old.

1202
00:44:49,270 --> 00:44:51,610
We've got to remember, as John Newton said,

1203
00:44:51,670 --> 00:44:52,590
and be gone unbelief.

1204
00:44:52,830 --> 00:44:55,770
His love in times past forbids me to

1205
00:44:55,770 --> 00:44:59,050
think He'll leave me at last.

1206
00:44:59,810 --> 00:45:00,890
Got to remember Him.

1207
00:45:00,950 --> 00:45:02,310
How can I be carried by God?

1208
00:45:02,390 --> 00:45:03,150
Cry out to Him.

1209
00:45:04,190 --> 00:45:05,070
Cry out.

1210
00:45:06,250 --> 00:45:10,670
He says in Isaiah 46, verse 7, if

1211
00:45:10,670 --> 00:45:12,790
one cries to it, the false God, it

1212
00:45:12,790 --> 00:45:13,390
doesn't answer.

1213
00:45:14,530 --> 00:45:15,910
That's what the devil wants you to think

1214
00:45:15,910 --> 00:45:17,150
the true God is going to do.

1215
00:45:17,210 --> 00:45:18,030
He's not going to hear you.

1216
00:45:18,590 --> 00:45:19,530
No, that's not true.

1217
00:45:19,610 --> 00:45:20,450
He will hear you.

1218
00:45:21,170 --> 00:45:24,170
Don't be there looking for some subjective feeling

1219
00:45:24,170 --> 00:45:27,250
and emotion or tears to come upon you

1220
00:45:27,250 --> 00:45:28,590
and then you think, well, that means God

1221
00:45:28,590 --> 00:45:29,050
heard me.

1222
00:45:29,090 --> 00:45:30,070
You go by faith.

1223
00:45:30,590 --> 00:45:31,410
Not feelings.

1224
00:45:31,570 --> 00:45:32,230
Not sight.

1225
00:45:33,270 --> 00:45:34,870
Not how does my gut feel.

1226
00:45:35,190 --> 00:45:37,410
You go taking God at His Word and

1227
00:45:37,410 --> 00:45:39,290
you determine from that point on from me

1228
00:45:39,290 --> 00:45:40,610
and my house, we're going to follow the

1229
00:45:40,610 --> 00:45:41,890
Lord no matter what I feel.

1230
00:45:42,350 --> 00:45:43,590
I'm going to believe God.

1231
00:45:43,690 --> 00:45:44,790
I'm going to obey Him.

1232
00:45:45,070 --> 00:45:46,270
And I'm not turning back.

1233
00:45:46,270 --> 00:45:47,810
I've decided to follow Jesus.

1234
00:45:49,050 --> 00:45:50,590
We have a God, if we cry to

1235
00:45:50,590 --> 00:45:51,490
Him, He'll hear us.

1236
00:45:52,310 --> 00:45:53,990
We have a God, Isaiah 40 says He

1237
00:45:53,990 --> 00:45:55,110
gives power to the faint.

1238
00:45:56,230 --> 00:45:58,510
He gives strength to those who are weary.

1239
00:46:01,290 --> 00:46:04,390
And weary and young men shall fall exhausted,

1240
00:46:04,470 --> 00:46:06,230
but they who wait for the Lord shall

1241
00:46:06,230 --> 00:46:07,210
renew their strength.

1242
00:46:07,290 --> 00:46:09,170
Brother, sister, you feel exhausted?

1243
00:46:09,930 --> 00:46:10,670
Wait for God.

1244
00:46:10,770 --> 00:46:11,650
Ask for His help.

1245
00:46:12,130 --> 00:46:13,130
He's going to help you.

1246
00:46:13,570 --> 00:46:15,390
It could all happen in one hour where

1247
00:46:15,390 --> 00:46:17,430
you've got spiritual strength you had no idea

1248
00:46:17,430 --> 00:46:19,430
that you had because God drew near and

1249
00:46:19,430 --> 00:46:20,070
He helped you.

1250
00:46:23,210 --> 00:46:24,170
What do you need to do to be

1251
00:46:24,170 --> 00:46:25,050
carried by God?

1252
00:46:26,250 --> 00:46:29,410
Isaiah 45, verse 22, Turn to Me and

1253
00:46:29,410 --> 00:46:30,030
be saved.

1254
00:46:30,950 --> 00:46:31,370
Turn.

1255
00:46:33,470 --> 00:46:34,990
All the ends of the earth, for I

1256
00:46:34,990 --> 00:46:36,250
am God and there is no other.

1257
00:46:37,390 --> 00:46:40,370
And right after that, that's where he says,

1258
00:46:40,470 --> 00:46:42,310
to me every knee shall bow.

1259
00:46:42,990 --> 00:46:45,690
And Paul in Philippians 2, he takes that

1260
00:46:45,690 --> 00:46:47,130
and he says that's Christ.

1261
00:46:47,910 --> 00:46:49,150
Christ is Lord.

1262
00:46:50,110 --> 00:46:51,910
And He's going to come back one day.

1263
00:46:52,830 --> 00:46:55,630
It's not just knee bow and bow falling

1264
00:46:55,630 --> 00:46:56,630
in Isaiah 46.

1265
00:46:56,850 --> 00:46:58,470
Every one of us is going to be

1266
00:46:58,470 --> 00:46:59,190
on the ground.

1267
00:47:01,520 --> 00:47:03,180
But are you going to be there worshiping

1268
00:47:03,180 --> 00:47:04,820
God who carried you to that point?

1269
00:47:05,000 --> 00:47:06,560
Are you going to be there worshiping the

1270
00:47:06,560 --> 00:47:10,260
gods of sin and self-righteousness and false

1271
00:47:10,260 --> 00:47:11,680
religious deceit?

1272
00:47:14,410 --> 00:47:16,510
William Jay said, do you have no confidence

1273
00:47:16,510 --> 00:47:17,370
in the flesh?

1274
00:47:17,860 --> 00:47:20,310
No dependence upon your own resources for your

1275
00:47:20,310 --> 00:47:20,730
happiness.

1276
00:47:21,270 --> 00:47:24,050
No dependence upon your righteousness for your justification.

1277
00:47:24,750 --> 00:47:26,670
Do you have no dependence on your strength

1278
00:47:26,670 --> 00:47:27,670
for your sanctification?

1279
00:47:28,090 --> 00:47:30,730
No dependence upon your wisdom for your guidance.

1280
00:47:31,350 --> 00:47:33,310
You reverse all that, that's our problem.

1281
00:47:33,390 --> 00:47:34,790
We depend too much on self.

1282
00:47:35,350 --> 00:47:38,250
God wants us totally cast upon Him.

1283
00:47:39,510 --> 00:47:40,170
And you know what?

1284
00:47:40,270 --> 00:47:42,270
Sometimes the trials in your life, they're God

1285
00:47:42,270 --> 00:47:44,110
carrying you to a point where you're all

1286
00:47:44,110 --> 00:47:45,930
the more be willing to be carried by

1287
00:47:45,930 --> 00:47:46,250
Him.

1288
00:47:46,250 --> 00:47:47,610
He breaks you down.

1289
00:47:47,950 --> 00:47:49,990
That you might finally be weak enough, like

1290
00:47:49,990 --> 00:47:53,270
Horatius Bonar said in that tract, let go

1291
00:47:53,270 --> 00:47:54,730
and fall in the arms of God.

1292
00:47:54,790 --> 00:47:56,970
He wants you to let go, to stop

1293
00:47:56,970 --> 00:47:59,590
striving in your own power, to give up

1294
00:47:59,590 --> 00:48:04,290
and to rest in Christ alone for salvation.

1295
00:48:06,320 --> 00:48:07,920
So will you be carried by Him?

1296
00:48:08,740 --> 00:48:10,300
He's already given you breath.

1297
00:48:11,740 --> 00:48:13,840
Or are you going to resist His love

1298
00:48:14,380 --> 00:48:15,820
and live for yourself?

1299
00:48:16,620 --> 00:48:18,560
I pray that not be the case.

1300
00:48:21,040 --> 00:48:22,400
So do you have this view of God

1301
00:48:22,400 --> 00:48:23,880
being a father carrying a son?

1302
00:48:26,340 --> 00:48:27,020
Do you have that?

1303
00:48:27,540 --> 00:48:28,820
Remember Deuteronomy 1.

1304
00:48:28,900 --> 00:48:30,140
Remember Isaiah 46.

1305
00:48:31,200 --> 00:48:32,500
God will carry you.

1306
00:48:33,040 --> 00:48:35,660
He will sustain you, even into old age,

1307
00:48:35,760 --> 00:48:37,000
all the way to the end.

1308
00:48:37,020 --> 00:48:39,320
And obviously our response to such tender love

1309
00:48:39,320 --> 00:48:43,320
as Christians, you know, it's not passivity, but

1310
00:48:43,320 --> 00:48:44,660
it's being proactive.

1311
00:48:44,920 --> 00:48:46,720
It makes, if God is bearing me, He's

1312
00:48:46,720 --> 00:48:48,240
bearing me to go bear the burdens of

1313
00:48:48,240 --> 00:48:48,740
others, right?

1314
00:48:49,320 --> 00:48:50,720
So you and I go and we bear

1315
00:48:50,720 --> 00:48:52,540
the burdens of others because God is bearing

1316
00:48:52,540 --> 00:48:55,200
us and sustaining us and emboldening us as

1317
00:48:55,200 --> 00:48:56,140
we rely on Him.

1318
00:48:56,420 --> 00:48:58,460
Now we can actually go do something for

1319
00:48:58,460 --> 00:48:59,060
the Lord.

1320
00:48:59,880 --> 00:49:01,440
Apart from Him, we can do nothing.

1321
00:49:01,720 --> 00:49:03,040
You know, this is just the reality again

1322
00:49:03,040 --> 00:49:05,340
of John 15 that apart from abiding in

1323
00:49:05,340 --> 00:49:06,960
Christ, you and I, we can't bear any

1324
00:49:06,960 --> 00:49:07,320
fruit.

1325
00:49:07,860 --> 00:49:08,920
Nothing's going to happen.

1326
00:49:11,040 --> 00:49:12,760
Well, brethren, I hope that encourages you.

1327
00:49:13,580 --> 00:49:17,200
I first heard Charles Leiter on Deuteronomy 1

1328
00:49:17,200 --> 00:49:19,060
many years ago and just that reality of

1329
00:49:19,060 --> 00:49:20,740
God being a God who carries you.

1330
00:49:21,720 --> 00:49:23,220
There's great comfort there.

1331
00:49:23,300 --> 00:49:24,640
He's carrying you right now.

1332
00:49:24,920 --> 00:49:27,040
Even if you have a sense He's not.

1333
00:49:27,520 --> 00:49:29,760
If you're His, He's sustaining you.

1334
00:49:30,420 --> 00:49:32,120
And you want to be actively looking to

1335
00:49:32,120 --> 00:49:32,440
Him.

1336
00:49:33,580 --> 00:49:36,500
Because the Bible's replete with examples of people

1337
00:49:36,500 --> 00:49:38,840
who cast God off for their idols.

1338
00:49:39,000 --> 00:49:39,640
Don't do it.

1339
00:49:40,780 --> 00:49:43,660
Don't cast off His mercy and conviction in

1340
00:49:43,660 --> 00:49:45,720
your life for your idols, but respond.

1341
00:49:45,720 --> 00:49:45,860
Respond.

1342
00:49:47,380 --> 00:49:48,880
Ask Him to carry you.

1343
00:49:51,460 --> 00:49:53,780
How firm a foundation it has this line

1344
00:49:53,780 --> 00:49:55,000
from this very verse.

1345
00:49:55,560 --> 00:49:57,940
Even down to old age, all my people

1346
00:49:57,940 --> 00:50:01,700
shall prove my sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love.

1347
00:50:02,000 --> 00:50:05,240
And when grain hares share their temples adorned,

1348
00:50:05,260 --> 00:50:10,000
like lambs they shall still in my bosom

1349
00:50:10,000 --> 00:50:10,520
be born.

1350
00:50:11,060 --> 00:50:11,720
Let's pray.

1351
00:50:14,930 --> 00:50:19,570
Father, I thank You that we still, like

1352
00:50:19,570 --> 00:50:21,270
lambs in Your bosom, are born.

1353
00:50:23,440 --> 00:50:25,040
Lord, I thank You that You bear our

1354
00:50:25,040 --> 00:50:25,540
burdens.

1355
00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:30,140
Lord, I thank You for sustaining us.

1356
00:50:31,400 --> 00:50:32,500
Lord, we are weak.

1357
00:50:32,980 --> 00:50:35,820
But Lord, we want to be weaker, more

1358
00:50:35,820 --> 00:50:38,140
reliant on You, less reliant on our own

1359
00:50:38,140 --> 00:50:38,560
power.

1360
00:50:40,360 --> 00:50:42,860
Lord, forgive us the times You've carried us

1361
00:50:42,860 --> 00:50:46,140
in a direction that we've fought against or

1362
00:50:46,140 --> 00:50:50,380
that we've questioned You, that we've even said,

1363
00:50:50,460 --> 00:50:51,520
why did You do that?

1364
00:50:52,560 --> 00:50:53,560
Lord, You know.

1365
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You're God.

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00:50:55,660 --> 00:50:56,300
We are not.

1367
00:50:57,480 --> 00:50:58,500
There's no other.

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00:50:59,320 --> 00:51:02,020
Lord, You know everything from beginning to end.

1369
00:51:03,380 --> 00:51:04,820
Lord, I pray You would be with my

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00:51:04,820 --> 00:51:05,700
brothers and sisters.

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00:51:05,900 --> 00:51:06,980
You would strengthen them.

1372
00:51:08,720 --> 00:51:11,060
Lord, as we all go through different trials,

1373
00:51:12,480 --> 00:51:14,780
as we all go through opportunities, Lord, to

1374
00:51:14,780 --> 00:51:17,060
serve You, Lord, help us to rely on

1375
00:51:17,060 --> 00:51:19,520
Your divine, all-powerful power.

1376
00:51:20,540 --> 00:51:22,360
Lord, that You would carry us in the

1377
00:51:22,360 --> 00:51:24,600
good works that You created for us to

1378
00:51:24,600 --> 00:51:25,400
do beforehand.

1379
00:51:26,320 --> 00:51:28,600
Lord, that we would rejoice in Your tender,

1380
00:51:28,800 --> 00:51:30,340
loving care towards us.

1381
00:51:31,320 --> 00:51:33,960
Lord, even as parents hold their children, Lord,

1382
00:51:33,980 --> 00:51:36,000
that we'd be reminded that that's just a

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00:51:36,000 --> 00:51:36,360
picture.

1384
00:51:36,820 --> 00:51:39,380
Though it's imperfect, Lord, it's a picture of

1385
00:51:39,380 --> 00:51:39,540
You.

1386
00:51:39,780 --> 00:51:43,000
Lord, You're carrying us, even into old age.

1387
00:51:43,000 --> 00:51:43,960
Father, thank You.

1388
00:51:45,850 --> 00:51:47,640
Thank You for that incredible love.

1389
00:51:48,760 --> 00:51:50,640
Lord, we pray others would cry out to

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00:51:50,640 --> 00:51:53,920
You to carry them out of their bondage

1391
00:51:54,520 --> 00:51:56,300
and into the promised land.

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00:51:56,940 --> 00:51:58,380
In Christ's name, Amen.