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We are in our 4th week on our 
series on the Lord's Prayer and 

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I've only preached so far 2 
words and you guys are starting 

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to get very nervous. 
How long is this actually going 

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to take Pastor Dan? 
We will take on a few more words

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today as we consider the phrase 
Our Father in Heaven and 

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consider what we can learn from 
these beautiful words and this 

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prayer our Lord has taught us 
briefly to review. 

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Remember that prayer is a 
conversation with God, and it's 

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not a monologue, but a dialogue.
We're talking to each other. 

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We also learned that it's 
difficult. 

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It's not just difficult, it's 
impossible. 

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So if prayer feels hard, that's 
because it's impossible. 

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And without the grace and work 
of God working on our behalf, it

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would never happen. 
Last week we looked at the 

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address of the Lord's Prayer. 
We talked about our Father. 

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A couple weeks ago we talked 
about it. 

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Embedded in that word, Father, 
is a whole theology of adoption.

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The only way we can address God 
as Father is through the Gospel.

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The work of Jesus, our elder 
brother, on our behalf allows us

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to be adopted and reconciled 
with the Father, to have a 

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relationship with him. 
But it's not just the Father and

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the Son, but it's also the Holy 
Spirit who is called the Spirit 

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of adoption, who enables us to 
pray and call out ABBA Father. 

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And so we talked about prayer 
being a family affair, that 

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Father entails adoption. 
Last week we talked about the 

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word our Our Father is plural 
and possessive and sets us 

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within the context not only of 
the Trinitarian God, but in his 

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family of adopted children, 
brothers and sisters in Christ, 

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fellow orphans brought together 
into a brand new family. 

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And I showed you this quote. 
It's one worthy of remembering 

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for your whole life. 
It's from Ji Packer. 

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It goes this way. 
Adoption is the highest 

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privilege of the gospel. 
The traitor is forgiven, brought

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in for supper, and given the 
family name. 

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To be right with God the Judge 
is a great thing, but to be 

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loved and cared for by God the 
Father is greater. 

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We need not only a loving 
Father, but we also need an able

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father. 
And so we move into the next 

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phrase of the of the prayer, our
Father which art in heaven. 

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Now our minds immediately think 
of heaven as a place, streets of

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gold, crystal, sea, pearly 
gates, all the metaphors and 

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scripture. 
But really the word heavenly not

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only refers to the dwelling 
place of God, but the fact that 

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our Father is heavenly, that he 
is totally other. 

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He alone is uncreated. 
Everything else is created. 

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He's in his own complete 
category. 

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He is heavenly. 
He is other. 

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And so our first point today is 
to learn a fancy theological 

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term that's in all the books. 
He is imminent. 

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He is imminent. 
And I'm taking these kind of in 

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reverse order because I want to 
talk about the closeness of God,

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the nearness of God, the 
tenderness and the gentleness 

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and the loving kindness of God 
carried to us with that very 

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familial word, Father. 
But we're also going to need to 

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note that he is a heavenly 
Father, that He is omnipotent 

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and omniscient and has all of 
these characteristics that we do

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not share that make Him able to 
answer our prayers. 

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He is imminent. 
Hard word. 

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You don't have to remember it. 
I put several synonyms up there 

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to help you think about 
something that's a little easier

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to obtain. 
I think that's probably wise. 

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He's close, He's near, He's 
within our hearts. 

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We even teach the little 
children He lives within our 

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hearts. 
If we are Christians, Ji 

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Packer's favorite word to talk 
about the imminence of God is 

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that He is personal. 
And again, think about that term

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Father. 
It's a human word. 

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It's a close term. 
And was he? 

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When we open up this amazing 
chapter in Isaiah that I'm super

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thrilled to be preaching from 
this morning, we can note that 

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the eminence of of God, the 
closeness of God is dovetailed 

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in this chapter with his 
transcendence, which is the 

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second thing we're going to talk
about his greatness, His 

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Holiness. 
And right here, nestled in this 

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close frame, in one chapter, we 
get both the deeply personal 

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God, the caring, tender Father, 
but also the great, omnipotent, 

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omniscient God who created, did 
everything. 

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And So what I love to do is take
you into this, this beautiful 

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text, and have you experience 
both. 

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We've been talking for several 
weeks more about the imminence 

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or the closeness or the 
fatherhood of God. 

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So I'm not going to spend as 
much time on this, but I do want

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to point out certain verses in 
chapter 40 that really highlight

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his closeness to us. 
If you have your Bibles with 

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you, I'd encourage you to turn 
there. 

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We'll be in there for most of 
the chapter, most of the 

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morning, kind of follow along 
with me in the text. 

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Isaiah chapter 40 begins with a 
very tender introduction and you

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can hear that closeness, that 
comforting language. 

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Isaiah 40 beginning in verse 
one. 

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Comfort, comfort my people, says
your God speak tenderly to 

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Jerusalem and cry to her that 
her warfare is ended, that her 

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iniquity is pardoned, that he 
she has received from the Lord's

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hand double for all our sins. 
Very close, comforting text, but

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if you go down scan down to 
verse 11, you'll see another 

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very tender image in verse 11. 
He God will tend his flock like 

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a shepherd. 
He will gather the lambs in his 

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arms. 
He will carry them in his bosom 

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and gently lead those that are 
with the young. 

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Isn't that beautiful? 
The God is a shepherd that would

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hold each of us as precious 
lambs, carry them close to his 

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heart. 
So not only have we seen that 

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he's a comforter in the very 
beginning, we see this gentle 

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shepherd image in verse 11. 
But if you continue to the very 

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end of the passage in chapter 40
ends again with tremendously 

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comforting, tender language in 
verses 29 through 31. 

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He gives power to the faint, and
to him who has no might He 

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increases strength. 
Even youth shall faint and be 

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weary, and young men shall fall 
exhausted. 

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But they who wait for the Lord 
shall renew their strength. 

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They shall mount up with wings 
like eagles. 

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They shall run and not be weary.
They shall walk and not faint. 

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He is a reviver or a renewer. 
So we see kind of at the 

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beginning, in the middle of the 
and the end of this beautiful 

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chapter, this intimate, close, 
imminent God, the comforter, the

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Good Shepherd, the reviver. 
But it's also very interesting 

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in Isaiah's effort to give 
comfort to the people and this 

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Oracle of comfort to the people,
that the strategy isn't so much 

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to camp down into these tender 
images, but to give 1A lofty and

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mighty view of what God is 
really like, that we may look up

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and consider together his 
transcendence, His Holiness. 

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What does that word mean? 
He is transcendent way of 

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thinking about it is that he is 
greater than all exceptional, 

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but we don't mean just like a 
little bit better than his 

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creatures. 
He's in a totally different 

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category than everything that he
has made. 

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And so you can think about it as
greater than all. 

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Packers favorite word for 
transcendence is majesty, 

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majesty. 
You think about His Highness, 

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His otherness, his wisdom, his 
might, his ability, and we're 

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going to get to a chance to do 
just a little survey in this 

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chapter of some of these amazing
truths begins not only with this

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word of tenderness, but then 
this heralding somebody 

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importance. 
Come in time to do some serious 

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excavation work and make a road.
Verse 3 A voice cries in the 

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wilderness, prepare the way of 
the Lord, make straight in the 

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desert a highway for our God, 
Get the bulldozers out. 

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Every valley shall be lifted up,
every mountain hill made low. 

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The uneven ground shall become 
level in the rough places of 

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plain, And the glory of the Lord
shall be revealed, and all flesh

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shall see it together. 
For the mouth of the Lord has 

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spoken. 
I'm paying attention, how about 

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you? 
A voice says, cry. 

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And I said, what shall I cry 
now? 

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We're going to get a contrast 
now to get the glory of the Lord

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revealed in all of these 
beautiful images. 

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What shall I cry? 
Here's the message. 

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All flesh is grass, and all its 
beauty is like the flower of the

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field. 
The grass Withers, the flower 

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fades when the breath of the 
Lord blows on it. 

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Surely the people are grass. 
The grass Withers, the flower 

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fades. 
But the word of our Lord will 

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stand forever. 
Total permanence. 

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It's going to continue to go 
through and ask you if you're 

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paying attention. 
Have you seen this? 

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This is good news. 
Behold your God. 

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Do the comparisons. 
Compare him to the greatest 

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things you can imagine and see 
how much greater He is than 

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those things. 
Verse 9 Go up on the high 

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mountain, O Zion, herald of good
news, lift up your voice with 

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strength. 
O Jerusalem, herald of good 

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news, lifted up. 
Fear not, say to the cities of 

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Judah, behold your God. 
What an introduction. 

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Behold the Lord God comes with 
might, and his arm rules for 

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him. 
Behold, his reward is with him 

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and his recompense before him. 
He will tend his flock like a 

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shepherd. 
He will gather the lambs in his 

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arms, He will carry them in his 
bosom and gently lead those that

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are with young. 
And then we're going to go into 

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these amazing comparisons to try
to get our small finite brains 

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to just get a little glimpse of 
His glory, a little glimpse of 

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His greatness. 
Sex invites us. 

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Do the comparisons, do the math.
This should be obvious and it'll

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even get kind of sarcastic. 
It's amazing. 

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Who is Measure the waters in the
hollow of his hand, The waters. 

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The smart people estimate that 
there are 352. 

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Are you ready for this? 
352 quintillion gallons. 

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OK, quintillion fine. 
How long would it take you to to

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count up to 352 quintillion if 
you just went 1234? 

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You ready to do the math? 
It would take you 11 trillion 

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years to count 1 by 1 all the 
gallons in the ocean. 

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And the biblical prophet says 
Yep, OK, right there of his 

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hand. 
It's awesome. 

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We're marked off the heavens 
with a span. 

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You got a little ruler here. 
Mark off the heavens. 

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You try to do it. 
You can't. 

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Only God knows how big the 
universe is. 

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Includes the dust of the earth 
in a measure. 

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Yeah, a little measuring cup. 
All the dust to the earth. 

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We, the mountains and scales and
the hills in a balance. 

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These things that make us feel 
small, they are not small to 

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God. 
His immensity is beyond 

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understanding, but it's not just
his power and His immensity. 

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It talks about His knowledge. 
Doesn't it begin in verse 13? 

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Now who has measured or 
counseled the Spirit of the 

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Lord? 
Anybody. 

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Anybody teach God in class. 
What would that be like? 

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Now you know, no, it's 
ridiculous. 

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Who is counsel, The spirit of 
the Lord. 

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What man? 
Who shows him his counsel? 

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Whom did he consult and who made
him understand? 

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Who taught him the path of 
justice and taught him knowledge

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and showed him the way of 
understanding? 

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And if you're not sure what the 
answer is, the answer is no one.

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His knowledge is beyond our 
understanding. 

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It goes on to talk about the 
nation's. 

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All the nations that we worry 
about, that we read about in the

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news or watch on TV, that make 
us churn with political anxiety.

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What about the nation's? 
Behold, the nations are like a 

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drop from a bucket and are 
accounted as the dust on the 

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scales. 
Sam Aubrey in preaching this 

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text says something here that I 
love and I have to share with 

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you, Sam Aubrey. 
You know, humans think that 

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they're a big deal, he's a big 
deal, she's a big deal, they're 

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a big deal. 
Sam Albrey says all human big 

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dealness on these scales 
registers as less than 0. 

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Goes on to then argue that 
idolatry therefore is 

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ridiculously pathetic. 
Ridiculously pathetic. 

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Let's continue reading. 
I'll start in 17. 

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All the nations are as nothing 
before him. 

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They are counted by Him as less 
than nothing and emptiness. 

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So we're going to ask the 
question. 

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It's a rhetorical question, you 
know. 

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Hey guys, OK, if we've just been
thinking about this, let's think

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about this some more. 
To whom then will you liken God 

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00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:36,440
to what? 
Or what likeness? 

227
00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:40,320
Compare with Him? 
Verse 8, Verse 19, An idol. 

228
00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:44,040
Great idea. 
An idol. 

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00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:47,480
Or maybe you're a rich person 
and so you can have a fancy 

230
00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:51,000
idol. 
An idol a Craftsman cassette and

231
00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:55,320
a Goldsmith overlays it with 
gold and Casper silver chains. 

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00:14:55,480 --> 00:14:59,720
Fancy idol. 
Hear how sarcastic this is? 

233
00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:03,880
I love the way Richard read that
dripping. 

234
00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:06,880
Or you can't afford the fancy 
idol. 

235
00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:09,520
Fine, you're poor, you can get 
the cheap one. 

236
00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:13,120
Verse 20 He who is too 
impoverished for an offering 

237
00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:17,440
chooses wood that will not rot. 
Upgrade seeks out a skillful 

238
00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:21,160
Craftsman to what? 
Set up an idol that will not 

239
00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:22,800
move? 
Awesome. 

240
00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:26,520
Your idol so powerful that the 
best that it can do is not fall 

241
00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:29,080
over when you set it up? 
Really. 

242
00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:32,160
You're going to worship that. 
You're going to worship that. 

243
00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:37,840
I think it just wobbled a 
little. 

244
00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:44,560
It might fall over. 
You're going to get that 

245
00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:47,680
rhetorical question again, like,
are you paying attention? 

246
00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:51,520
Verse 21, Do you not know? 
Do you not hear? 

247
00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:56,480
Has it not been told to you from
Sunday school from the 

248
00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:59,000
beginning? 
Have you not understood from the

249
00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:02,000
foundations of the earth? 
It is he who sits above the 

250
00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:03,760
circle of the earth, and his 
inhabitants are like 

251
00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:06,880
grasshoppers, who stretches out 
the heavens like a curtain, 

252
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,800
spreads them like a tent to 
dwell in, and brings Princess to

253
00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:14,280
nothing and makes the rulers of 
the earth as emptiness. 

254
00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:18,040
All these rulers, all these 
politicians that we're so 

255
00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:20,720
worried about, he brings them to
nothing. 

256
00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:31,520
Caesar Schmiezer, Dingus who? 
Alexander the Lane. 

257
00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:34,240
He died when he was 32 years 
old. 

258
00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:35,840
Didn't even make it to his 40th 
birthday. 

259
00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:42,040
Pathetic Hitler, huh? 
Mussolini, Meh. 

260
00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:48,720
Putin the puny, Trump the 
temporary. 

261
00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:52,960
In a few 100 years they're all 
just going to be names on flash 

262
00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:55,480
cards with dates that children 
won't be able to remember or 

263
00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:57,520
understand and will think that 
you're mean for teaching them. 

264
00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:07,440
They are walking shadows or 
players full of sound and fury, 

265
00:17:07,599 --> 00:17:13,319
signifying nothing. 
Behold your God. 

266
00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,160
Behold all the things that 
you're worried about that you're

267
00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:18,920
concerned about. 
When you when you change the 

268
00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:22,760
frame and think about His 
omnipotence and His wisdom, now 

269
00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:25,839
you can begin to live your life 
in the assurance that comes from

270
00:17:25,839 --> 00:17:29,320
knowing that you not only have a
loving father, but an able God. 

271
00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:35,800
Behold your God, verse 24. 
Surely these Princess, they're, 

272
00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:39,760
they're planted, scarcely sown, 
scarcely has their stem taken 

273
00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:42,520
root in the earth, when he blows
on them and they wither, and The

274
00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:44,760
Tempest carries them off like 
stubble. 

275
00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:48,680
To whom then will you compare me
that I should be like him? 

276
00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:50,440
There's that question again, 
says the Holy One. 

277
00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:53,600
Now we get to take a gander at 
the stars. 

278
00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:55,360
We looked at the ocean. 
Now let's look up and see the 

279
00:17:55,360 --> 00:17:58,000
stars. 
Lift up your eyes on high and 

280
00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:04,040
see who created these stars. 
He who brings out their host by 

281
00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:05,200
number. 
Let's stop right there. 

282
00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:07,280
Just think about the number of 
the stars. 

283
00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:10,680
Ever tried to count the stars? 
Good luck. 

284
00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:14,080
Ask those people with a fancy 
telescope to count the stars and

285
00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:17,160
they'll just give you 
guesstimates. 1 guesstimate 1 

286
00:18:17,160 --> 00:18:23,880
septillion stars. 
Septillion, friends. 

287
00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:27,720
That's one with 24 zeros behind 
it. 

288
00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:38,680
The closest star besides our 
sun, the closest * if you tried 

289
00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:42,120
to go there and of the fastest 
vehicle I've ever travelled in 

290
00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:44,640
is a jet airliner, passenger 
plane. 

291
00:18:45,360 --> 00:18:47,360
Let's just say for this. 
I know this is impossible 

292
00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:50,960
science people, but let's say 
you could try to go on a journey

293
00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:53,400
to the closest star and the 
fastest thing you're used to 

294
00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:57,480
which is a jet airliner. 
How long would it take you to 

295
00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:09,560
get to the closest star that not
our sun 5,000,000 years closest 

296
00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:13,760
star and there's septillion 
stars. 

297
00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:17,640
This is not bigger than God. 
Look at the next line in the in 

298
00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:20,360
the beautiful passage in front 
of you. 

299
00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:26,080
He brings out their host by 
number, calling them all by 

300
00:19:26,080 --> 00:19:30,480
name. 
It's actually a beautiful 

301
00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:34,560
juxtaposition of his immensity 
to handle Septillion, but the 

302
00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:37,960
intimacy to know them by name 
because we get worried we're 

303
00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:39,400
going to get lost in all this 
immensity. 

304
00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:41,320
How can he care about you? 
How can he care about me? 

305
00:19:41,320 --> 00:19:45,800
He knows them by name. 
Even the hairs on your head are 

306
00:19:45,800 --> 00:19:51,080
numbered. 
Wow, the stars. 

307
00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:56,640
Did you know that? 
Our sun is 1.3 million times 

308
00:19:56,640 --> 00:20:00,200
bigger than our Earth and it's 
still a small star. 

309
00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:04,600
The biggest star that we knew 
about and that we know about, if

310
00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:10,120
it was in our solar system, 
would go all the way out to the 

311
00:20:10,120 --> 00:20:15,320
surface of Jupiter. 
And if you want to go that 

312
00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:19,800
around that in a, in a jet 
plane, that would take you 700 

313
00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:24,680
years. 
He knows them all by name. 

314
00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:29,440
He knows about your problems and
your worries and your fears and 

315
00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:31,880
he's got it. 
He's got it. 

316
00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:38,040
Finally, you'll talk about just 
getting tired. 

317
00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:42,440
Aren't you glad that you don't 
pray to a God that you need to, 

318
00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:44,920
like, watch his schedule because
you might catch him napping? 

319
00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:49,680
Oh, he's my father. 
Is he like my my dad who snoozes

320
00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:52,320
in the evenings and his lady and
his lazy boy after a long day at

321
00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:53,960
work? 
No, he does not sleep or 

322
00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:55,400
slumber. 
He doesn't even get tired. 

323
00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:03,200
Have you not known? 
Have you not heard? 

324
00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:06,400
Is the echoing question. 
The Lord is the everlasting God,

325
00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:10,600
the creator of the heavens, of 
the of the ends of the earth. 

326
00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:15,160
There it is in verse 28. 
He does not faint or grow weary.

327
00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:18,000
His understanding is 
unsearchable. 

328
00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:22,800
And that's why you can draw 
comfort from him because He's 

329
00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:25,120
the one that can give you 
strength and raise you up when 

330
00:21:25,120 --> 00:21:28,480
you feel so tired and unable and
weak. 

331
00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:33,880
But then we need to think then 
about how this majesty of God is

332
00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:37,160
not just limited to God the 
Father, it's also in God the 

333
00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:40,080
Son. 
What the Father is the Son is 

334
00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:45,680
the God, man who secured our 
redemption by living a perfect 

335
00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:49,360
life, giving himself as a 
sacrifice for our sins, raising 

336
00:21:49,360 --> 00:21:52,080
from the dead. 
And now he intercedes for us at 

337
00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:55,560
the right hand of the Father. 
The gospel message tells us to 

338
00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:57,680
look not only at the Father, but
to look at the Son. 

339
00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:01,040
And I want you to see how even 
in his titles, in His name, you 

340
00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:06,400
have Heavenly Father, intimacy 
and transcendence, but now you 

341
00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:11,040
have Lord Jesus, the closeness 
of a personal name. 

342
00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:16,280
The elder brother Jesus is Lord 
Jesus, the King of creation, the

343
00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:21,800
one by whom everything is made, 
the Lord Jesus. 

344
00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:24,240
He is the one that came from 
heaven. 

345
00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:29,240
John 313 through 15 says this. 
No one has ascended into heaven 

346
00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:33,280
except he who descended from 
heaven, the Son of Man. 

347
00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:36,520
And as Moses lifted up the 
serpent in the wilderness, so 

348
00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:40,520
must the Son of Man be lifted 
up, that whoever believes in him

349
00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:44,520
may have eternal life. 
The Heavenly Father sent the Son

350
00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:49,240
from heaven to rescue a people, 
to bring them to heaven. 

351
00:22:50,120 --> 00:22:54,160
And this is all framed at the 
beginning of our prayer. 

352
00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:59,560
Our Father, which art in heaven 
goes on. 

353
00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:03,200
In the Bible we talked about 
this beautiful phrase and 

354
00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:06,960
Isaiah, behold your God. 
And I love how the New Testament

355
00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:11,880
uses Isaiah 40 as John the 
Baptist, the voice crying out in

356
00:23:11,880 --> 00:23:13,800
the wilderness. 
As John the Baptist says, not 

357
00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:18,080
behold your God when he sees 
Jesus approaching, but behold 

358
00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:22,360
the Lamb of God who takes away 
the sin of the world. 

359
00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:28,480
Beautiful, behold the Lamb. 
He makes U.S. citizens of 

360
00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:30,440
heaven. 
But now we're not only talking 

361
00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:34,200
about the heavenly Father and 
the Lord Jesus, but we have to 

362
00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:39,120
talk about the Holy Spirit, the 
Spirit that animates, that 

363
00:23:39,120 --> 00:23:42,080
comforts, that's intimate, 
that's close, that's like breath

364
00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:45,040
and wind and hand and is even 
praying for us. 

365
00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:49,360
He is exactly God. 
Everything the Father is, 

366
00:23:49,360 --> 00:23:52,040
everything the Son is, so is the
Holy Spirit. 

367
00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:56,360
He is holy and he's not to be 
trifled with. 

368
00:23:56,360 --> 00:24:00,760
Friends, as the story in the 
book of Acts teaches us as 

369
00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:06,400
Ananias and Sapphira, blasphemy 
by lying to the Holy Spirit and 

370
00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:10,440
die for it. 
So you have again that 

371
00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:16,520
commingling of of in imminence 
and transcendence, closeness and

372
00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:21,640
majesty. 
And that is why we sing as we 

373
00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:28,600
think about Father, Son, and 
Holy Spirit, Holy, holy, holy 

374
00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:36,600
Lord, God Almighty, thrice holy 
God, this he who is saving us, 

375
00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:41,800
should we believe in his name? 
We may have eternal life. 

376
00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:47,360
So what are our applications? 
What are our applications? 

377
00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:52,320
Well, first, if you're not a 
Christian, there's no day. 

378
00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:53,560
You hear me say this over and 
over again. 

379
00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:58,520
There's no day like today to put
yourself in the care of a 

380
00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:03,480
heavenly Father. 
By the work of the Lord Jesus, 

381
00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:08,640
by the grace and the kindness of
His Holy Spirit, believe in His 

382
00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:11,320
name and you can become a 
citizen of heaven. 

383
00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:14,320
That can be your hope. 
That can be your story. 

384
00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:17,720
And no matter what suffering or 
hardships you go through, your 

385
00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:21,280
future is secured as part of the
family. 

386
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:26,560
It also as an application. 
We can think about how and I 

387
00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:28,680
hope you've already feel felt it
in your heart as we've been 

388
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:32,920
going through this text. 
Just a a welling up in your 

389
00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:37,440
heart to worship that he's not 
only the close and tender one, 

390
00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:40,440
but he's the one who made all of
this immensity that makes us 

391
00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:44,440
feel so small. 
Can we worship his name? 

392
00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:50,720
Our church services are designed
to try to hold this almost 

393
00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:55,840
paradoxical thing intention 
together, that we can come in 

394
00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:58,800
and kind of celebrate the 
freedom of our assurance, but we

395
00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:02,640
also have a reverence and an awe
for being in the hands of a holy

396
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:08,120
God. 
So Pastor Matt, as he invokes, 

397
00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:14,160
he uses language to remind us 
that God is holy, that he is 

398
00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:17,280
able. 
We approach him with reverence 

399
00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:20,320
and confession of our sin and 
knowledge that we are not the 

400
00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:23,040
king on the throne. 
We are the subjects, those who 

401
00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:25,400
have been created. 
And as he set the tone for that,

402
00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:28,360
you can build on this tender 
intimacy in the assurance that 

403
00:26:28,360 --> 00:26:32,720
is ours in the gospel. 
Likewise, Pastor Brighton, as he

404
00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:34,880
curates the songs and picks them
out. 

405
00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:40,080
We'd be lopsided if we were all 
over in this sort of dirgy 

406
00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:45,680
solemnness with no celebration. 
Or we'd be lopsided if we were 

407
00:26:45,680 --> 00:26:48,960
all celebrating all the time and
we never had any sense of the 

408
00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:53,040
majesty and the glory and the 
power of God. 

409
00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:58,000
So we want to try to hit this 
sweet spot with of awe with 

410
00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:02,840
reverence, humility with 
boldness. 

411
00:27:08,470 --> 00:27:11,470
Not only are we worshipping 
hopefully in this dual frame, 

412
00:27:11,470 --> 00:27:13,790
we're praying in this dual 
frame. 

413
00:27:15,120 --> 00:27:19,520
So when we come into addressing 
God and beginning our request, 

414
00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:23,320
we remind ourselves that He is 
our Father, adopted by grace, by

415
00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:27,720
his Son, by the Spirit, that we 
are praying as a corporate body 

416
00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:29,840
as well with brothers and 
sisters in Christ. 

417
00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:32,640
But we're not praying to 
somebody who can't, we're 

418
00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:40,240
praying to someone who can. 
So we pour out our supplications

419
00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:47,200
and we ask God for for healing 
and for grace for him to undo 

420
00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:51,200
the injustice of the world. 
We ask for peace, we ask for his

421
00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:53,320
provision. 
And you're going to see the the 

422
00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:55,760
Lord's Prayer shift now into the
petitions. 

423
00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:59,160
Now that we know who we're 
talking to and how we're rightly

424
00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:02,960
related and in the right posture
and attitude to be able to have 

425
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:05,600
a conversation. 
Now we can talk about our 

426
00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:09,520
requests. 
Requests for forgiveness, even 

427
00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:14,080
impossible forgiveness. 
Requests for daily provision, 

428
00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:19,280
requests for the expansion of 
the church, expansion of the 

429
00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:22,600
Kingdom of God on earth. 
Requests for Him to come quickly

430
00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:26,880
and make everything right, but 
ultimately to a submission. 

431
00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:31,160
Your will, not mine, because you
know better than I do. 

432
00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:36,400
And hopefully the comfort that 
Isaiah is talking about can wash

433
00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:41,800
over us. 
The tenderness of being in close

434
00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:47,920
to his chest we can feel, and 
the notion that He can renew our

435
00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:50,520
strength when we just can't take
one more step. 

436
00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:55,960
We'll be there. 
He is able. 

437
00:28:55,960 --> 00:28:59,600
My friends, this is the one to 
whom we pray. 

438
00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:07,880
So to sum up and to conclude, we
pray to a heavenly Father, which

439
00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:11,080
means that He's not only willing
to answer us as our Father, but 

440
00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:13,840
he's able to answer us because 
of His Majesty. 

441
00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:17,800
And we've been concluding by 
having us all say the Lord's 

442
00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:19,840
Prayer together. 
If you don't know it, that's OK.

443
00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:23,000
If you listen week after week, 
you may begin to remember. 

444
00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:25,640
And we get to the part when we 
all say something else. 

445
00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:28,120
We're just going to say 
trespasses because that's the 

446
00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:32,720
way my grandma taught me. 
So let's pray the Lord's Prayer 

447
00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:36,360
together with these things in 
mind. 

448
00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:44,240
Our Father who art in heaven, 
hallowed be thy name, Thy 

449
00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:49,360
Kingdom come, Thy will be done 
on earth as it is in heaven. 

450
00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:53,880
Give us this day Our Daily 
Bread, and forgive us our 

451
00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:58,520
trespasses as we forgive those 
who trespass against us. 

452
00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:04,320
Lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from evil, For thine 

453
00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:08,200
is the Kingdom, and the power 
and the glory forever. 

454
00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:09,400
Amen.