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Isaiah 31 - Team Up With God and His Way · Tabernacle Talk - A Bible Study Podcast with Pastor Bryon Self

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  Welcome to Tabernacle Talk. Tabernacle talk is a Bible study
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  podcast brought from Tabernacle Baptist Church in Essex, MD.
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  I'm your host, Brian Self. We hope this podcast encourages
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  you to know Christ, grow in his word and show his love to
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  others. Let's dive right in.
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  Hello and welcome back to Tabernacle Talk.
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  Today we are in Isaiah chapter 31, Isaiah chapter 31, and we
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  saw last episode. God through Isaiah told Israel
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  and Judah that they were in the wrong for trusting in Egypt's
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  ability to help, protect and to save their nation.
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  Instead of turning to God. God had already told them the
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  way forward, the way of life was repenting, turning back to God,
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  following his way and God would save them.
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  God would take care of them, but they did not want the assurance
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  of their God. They wanted the assurance that
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  they could, if you will see and and touch what my friend Jim
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  would call they. They wanted a tangible Savior.
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  They did not want Yahweh's salvation.
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  And so we can read this in Isaiah 31 and verse #1 Woe to
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  those who go down to Egypt for help and who depend on horses.
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  They trust in the abundance of Chariots and in the large number
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  of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One
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  of Israel, and they do not seek Yahweh.
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  But He also is wise and brings disaster.
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  He does not go back on what He says.
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  He will rise up against the House of the wicked and against
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  the allies of evil doers. Egyptians are men, not God.
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  Their horses are flesh, not spirit.
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  When Yahweh raises His hand to strike, the helper will stumble.
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  The one who is helped will fall. Both will perish together.
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  So God says the Egyptians, they are imperfect and sinful and
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  wicked as well. And so as Judah aligns itself
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  with Egypt, it means that when Egypt is punished, then Judah
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  will suffer the consequences as well, because Judah, if you
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  will, they were leaning on Egypt.
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  And so when Egypt falls, Judah itself will also fall.
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  And even in previous chapters, we went through that whole
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  section of Isaiah where God highlights here's all of the
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  specific condemnations against Babylon, Assyria, Egypt, Israel,
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  Edom, Moab, etcetera. And so because God does not go
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  back on his word, he wasn't going to change his plans for
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  Egypt downfall their downgrade just because Judah was now
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  relying on Egypt and its large cavalry in order to protect it.
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  God says, Nope, I'm I'm still bringing down the hammer on
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  Egypt. And because you are now allied
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  with Egypt, you are going to get hurt in the process too.
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  Let that be kind of a challenge or encouragement to us.
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  The partnerships that we make in life are really, really, really
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  important. And best case scenario, best
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  case practice is always align yourself with the will and way
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  of God. As a pastor.
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  This is something that we do intentionally as a church that
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  we don't ally ourselves with churches that do not believe or
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  preach the gospel. I could say, all right, well,
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  you know, we could do a lot more community events if I just
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  didn't really care about any sort of doctrinal thing.
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  And so I'm going to, you know, hold a, a church worship service
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  and I'm going to invite the Unitarians across the street
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  that don't believe in the Trinity.
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  I'm going to invite, you know, the the Mormons over here that
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  believe all sorts of things that are not in line with what God
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  has revealed in Scripture. And I'm going to ally with, you
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  know, this church over here that does not believe in what the
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  Bible says on gender and marriage and sexuality.
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  And we're just all going to have a great time together.
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  And I bet we could get a good crowd if we got all of these
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  people together. Or I bet we could be a really
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  popular and we could do lots of good stuff if we just didn't
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  really care about this. The problem is, come Judgment
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  Day, I as the pastor of this church, I am responsible for the
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  oversight of the souls in my care, and I don't want to give
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  other people false assurance of salvation.
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  Salvation comes not just through generic belief in a deity who
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  created the world, or even in a generic belief in the God of the
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  Bible. Salvation is found as we repent
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  of sin and believe in Jesus and his righteousness alone for our
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  salvation, believing what Scripture teaches us about one
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  God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
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  And as we believe in what Scripture says, we experience
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  salvation. And as we are saved, we follow
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  in what God's word says. We don't say with false
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  doctrines or cults, other religions that there are other
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  ways to Jesus or that there are a multiplicity of gods or that
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  the Father, we we would not believe that the Father is the
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  Son who is the spirit. They're just putting on
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  different hats or they are, you know, different modes of water
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  during evaporation and condensation and freezing.
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  We would not believe that. And we believe that it is
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  through Jesus's work and not our own work that we are saved.
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  And so what's really important for my job as a pastor is to say
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  we believe in what Scripture teaches, in these guidelines
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  that God has given us. And so I'm not looking for
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  spiritual help from any other way of relating to God.
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  This is what God has said. And so we're going to rely on
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  the Lord. We're not going to rely on
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  people here, Israel said. We're going to ally ourselves
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  with Egypt instead of trusting in God.
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  And they experienced the downfall, the consequences of
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  that. I don't want to come Judgment
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  Day experience the consequences that come from trusting in or
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  relying on someone or some group or some church other than the
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  Lord. Same thing can even be said for
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  like romantic relationships that I wanted to encourage you.
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  If you are not currently married to a person who is not a
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  believer, do not enter into a romantic relationship or a
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  marital relationship with someone that is not a Christian.
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  This is something that's talked about over and over again in
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  Scripture all the way from Genesis multiple times through,
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  but talked about from Genesis all the way through into the New
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  Testament churches. And Paul tells us in Second
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  Corinthians chapter, it's either four or five that we are not to
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  be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
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  That's not as a result of the fact that they cannot be good or
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  kind. It is that the closest
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  relationships that we are called to have, we want to have with
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  those that will experience the blessing in favor of God, not
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  those who are under condemnation of God.
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  And so we rely on what does God want?
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  What does God say? Is this a good relationship in
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  which I can live out my Christian faith in a healthy
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  way? Obviously when you get into the
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  the business end of things that can get a little more squirrely.
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  Historically in Christian practice, it was way more common
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  for the non Christians to not want the Christians to be
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  involved in work, not so much the other way around.
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  And so I, I would encourage you be strong in the Lord, be strong
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  in your convictions, in your work, those that do not want to
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  work with you as a result of that, that might be honestly the
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  favor of the Lord on you to protect you from some situations
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  in your life. Or if God has people that do not
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  know the Lord that want to work with you, that could be a
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  wonderful way for you to show how a Christian's work ethic is
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  supposed to operate. Someone who treats fairly and
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  kindly, who is generous, who gives adequate compensation, who
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  is always faithful and true to their word, who can show up on
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  time, who can be kind in the way that they deal with a bad things
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  happening. Like all of that is wonderful.
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  But I, I want to encourage you there have a intentionality to
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  your walk with the Lord that you would say, I'm going to rely on
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  God. I'm going to rely on godly ways
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  and godly people, godly truth rather than just on what seems
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  best to me. I'm going to intentionally seek
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  the wisdom and favor of God. Verse #4 For this is what Yahweh
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  said to me. As a lion or young lion growls
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  over its prey, when a band of shepherds is called out against
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  it, and it is not terrified by their shouting or subdued by
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  their noise, so Yahweh of heaven's armies will come down
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  to fight on Mount Zion and on a till like hovering birds.
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  So Yahweh of heaven's armies will protect Jerusalem.
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  By protecting it, He'll rescue it.
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  By passing over it, He'll deliver it.
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  Return to the one the Israelites have greatly rebelled against.
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  For on that day everyone of you will reject the worthless idols
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  of silver and gold that your own hands have sinfully made.
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  Then Assyria will fall, but not by human sword.
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  A sword will devour him, but not one made by man.
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  He'll flee from the sword. His young men will be put to
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  forced labor. His rock will pass away because
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  of fear. That is the one that is like the
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  the rock, the steadiest, the most secure.
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  Likely the the Assyrian king passes away because of fear,
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  like he passes off the scene. There is no confidence that even
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  their strongest and most confident individuals have
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  anymore, it says. And His officers will be afraid
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  because of the signal flag. This is Yahweh's declaration,
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  whose fire is in Zion and whose furnace is in Jerusalem.
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  So here, this last statement that's made is that God is going
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  to protect Jerusalem from Assyria.
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  And I believe it is in the 30s that we eventually get to this
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  particular narrative account. I believe it is in chapter 36.
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  So we, I believe, should hit that next week.
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  If you're listening to the podcast on the day that it comes
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  out, we'll, we'll hit that particular portion next week
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  where this actually comes to pass where God protects
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  Jerusalem from Assyria. So that's the end of that
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  particular chapter. It is only 9 verses, so kind of
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  a shorter chapter overall, but I want to encourage you with the
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  with these specific thoughts. God can defend you when the math
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  might not math up. You can trust that God will
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  provide for your needs as you do the right thing, as you continue
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  to do the good thing, God will take care of you.
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  Now, that doesn't mean that God will give you everything that
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  you're hoping for. It doesn't even mean necessarily
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  that God will keep you at the exact same economic level that
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  you might be at right now. Or you might not.
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  You know, if you do the right thing, maybe you break up with
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  someone that you're currently dating that is not a Christian,
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  that you know isn't a Christian. You break up with them.
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  That doesn't mean that tomorrow you're going to wake up and
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  you're going to, you know, download Christian mingle
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  actually learn from some people just the other day, I cannot
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  recall who that was, but they met their spouse on Christian
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  mingle. But it doesn't mean that you're
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  going to download Christian mingle.
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  You, you break up with your with your unsaved boyfriend or
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  girlfriend today and tomorrow you'll download Christian Mingle
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  and you will find man just the perfect match for you.
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  It doesn't mean that, but it does mean that God's blessing is
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  found in obedience, that his ultimate protection maybe his
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  shaping of who you are as a person, that you will be a in
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  the sight of God, a better person in the coming month or
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  year or five years. You might be drastically
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  transformed and experienced new levels of openness and hearing
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  of the Holy Spirit as He speaks into your life.
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  You might be able to be a blessing and an encouragement to
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  people in ways you would never have imagined.
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  God may give you a new opportunities and richly bless
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  your business in some financial ways.
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  He might bring along the person that you're actually supposed to
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  be with and that you're supposed to marry.
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  That does know the Lord that may happen, but whatever Ave.
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  whatever way that it looks, God will bless you as you obey.
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  There was a phrase that my my parents would say constantly
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  growing up. Obedience brings blessings.
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  Disobedience brings conflict. Obedience brings blessings,
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  disobedience brings conflict. And I found that to be the case
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  over and over and over again in my life, that when I'm at odds
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  with God, I'm going to be at odds with other people, if you
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  will. It's easiest to be in right
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  relationship with God because God never fails me like I never
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  have to, but I never have to forgive God for anything that He
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  does. I never have to wonder, OK,
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  well, did God mean this insulting thing when he said it?
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  No, like my relationship with God, if you will, is easier in
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  the sense of I am receiving the love and forgiveness and joy and
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  peace and comfort, all of that from God.
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  And I know that He's in the right.
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  And so I'm just seeking to be open and obedient to Him.
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  But then it's that relationship with other people that becomes
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  more difficult. And I'm trying to remember where
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  I was going with that. Nope.
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  It's it totally spaced. So I, I can't recall where I was
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  going. If you're listening and you're
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  like, no, no, I, I, I was with you until you went off the
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  train, until your train went off the rails, then wonderful.
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  That's there for you. I think it was something along
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  the lines of God will use our relationships.
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  Oh, that's what it was. My relationship with God can be
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  sometimes easier. Also, when even that
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  relationship, when even the easiest relationship is not
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  where it should be, then every other relationship is going to
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  suffer. I'm going to be short with my
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  kids. I'm going to be angry with them.
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  I'm not going to treat them well.
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  I'm not going to have a good marriage if I'm at odds with God
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  himself. My business dealings, my my
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  dealings with with people at large, those within my church,
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  I'm just not going to be the person that I need to be if I'm
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  not right with God. And so have that be of of the
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  most consequence and importance for you is be right with God,
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  obey him and it will have repercussions on all the rest of
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  your life. It might involve material
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  blessing or it might involve A relational blessing.
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  It might not, but at the very least there is blessing promise
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  to the people of God that trust in him.
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  They repent of of their way. They turn back to God's way and
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  they find life and joy and love as they pursue that.
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  So go that direction. Thank you for everyone that was
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  watching and or listening today. And I'm glad that I eventually
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  found the track that I was headed on.
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  And God bless you. Next episode will be in chapter
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  32, which I'm looking forward to.
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  It's a really cool portion of scripture.
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  God bless.