WEBVTT - Isaiah 41

0:00:02.730 --> 0:00:06.730
<v Speaker 1>Life Audio. For more resources to help you in your

0:00:06.790 --> 0:00:13.420
<v Speaker 1>walk with Christ, please visit us at BibleStudyHeadquarters.com. You're listening

0:00:13.460 --> 0:00:17.220
<v Speaker 1>to the Chapter a Day Audio Bible. I'm John Stonge,

0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:21.349
<v Speaker 1>and today we're in Isaiah chapter 41, and we'll be

0:00:21.390 --> 0:00:28.310
<v Speaker 1>reading from the New Living Translation. Listen in silence before me,

0:00:28.530 --> 0:00:33.769
<v Speaker 1>you lands beyond the sea, Bring your strongest arguments. Come

0:00:33.830 --> 0:00:37.570
<v Speaker 1>now and speak. The court is ready for your case.

0:00:38.870 --> 0:00:42.479
<v Speaker 1>Who has stirred up this king from the east, rightly

0:00:42.620 --> 0:00:47.080
<v Speaker 1>calling him to God's service? Who gives this man victory

0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:51.760
<v Speaker 1>over many nations and permits him to trample their kings underfoot?

0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:56.790
<v Speaker 1>With his sword he reduces armies to dust. With his

0:00:56.890 --> 0:01:00.940
<v Speaker 1>bow he scatters them like chaff before the wind. He

0:01:01.020 --> 0:01:04.660
<v Speaker 1>chases them away and goes on safely, though he is

0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:10.140
<v Speaker 1>walking over unfamiliar ground. Who has done such mighty deeds,

0:01:10.660 --> 0:01:15.570
<v Speaker 1>summoning each new generation from the beginning of time? It

0:01:15.670 --> 0:01:20.030
<v Speaker 1>is I, the Lord, the first and the last. I

0:01:20.209 --> 0:01:25.910
<v Speaker 1>alone am He. The lands beyond the sea watch in fear.

0:01:26.709 --> 0:01:31.590
<v Speaker 1>Remote lands tremble and mobilize for war. The idol makers

0:01:31.670 --> 0:01:35.569
<v Speaker 1>encourage one another, saying to each other, Be strong. The

0:01:35.670 --> 0:01:41.470
<v Speaker 1>carver encourages the goldsmith, and the molder helps at the anvil. Good,

0:01:41.530 --> 0:01:45.860
<v Speaker 1>they say, it's coming along fine. Carefully they join the

0:01:45.900 --> 0:01:49.180
<v Speaker 1>parts together, then fasten the thing in place so it

0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:53.530
<v Speaker 1>won't fall over. But as for you, Israel my servant,

0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:59.330
<v Speaker 1>Jacob my chosen one, descended from Abraham my friend, I

0:01:59.370 --> 0:02:02.450
<v Speaker 1>have called you back from the ends of the earth, saying,

0:02:02.830 --> 0:02:06.400
<v Speaker 1>You are my servant, for I have chosen you and

0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:10.200
<v Speaker 1>will not throw you away. Don't be afraid, for I

0:02:10.260 --> 0:02:14.460
<v Speaker 1>am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.

0:02:15.250 --> 0:02:18.669
<v Speaker 1>I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold

0:02:18.730 --> 0:02:23.570
<v Speaker 1>you up with my victorious right hand. See, all your

0:02:23.750 --> 0:02:29.239
<v Speaker 1>angry enemies lie there, confused and humiliated. Anyone who opposes

0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:32.620
<v Speaker 1>you will die and come to nothing. You will look

0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:35.799
<v Speaker 1>in vain for those who tried to conquer you. Those

0:02:35.860 --> 0:02:39.530
<v Speaker 1>who attack you will come to nothing. For I hold

0:02:39.590 --> 0:02:42.930
<v Speaker 1>you by your right hand, I, the Lord, your God.

0:02:43.790 --> 0:02:46.950
<v Speaker 1>And I say to you, don't be afraid. I am

0:02:47.050 --> 0:02:51.270
<v Speaker 1>here to help you. Though you are a lowly worm,

0:02:51.490 --> 0:02:55.310
<v Speaker 1>O Jacob, don't be afraid, people of Israel, for I

0:02:55.660 --> 0:03:00.540
<v Speaker 1>will help you. I am the Lord, your Redeemer. I

0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:04.440
<v Speaker 1>am the Holy One of Israel. You will be a

0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:08.740
<v Speaker 1>new threshing instrument with many sharp teeth. You will tear

0:03:08.820 --> 0:03:13.070
<v Speaker 1>your enemies apart, making chaff of mountains. You will toss

0:03:13.110 --> 0:03:15.970
<v Speaker 1>them into the air, and the wind will blow them

0:03:16.250 --> 0:03:20.850
<v Speaker 1>all away. A whirlwind will scatter them. Then you will

0:03:20.940 --> 0:03:23.900
<v Speaker 1>rejoice in the Lord. You will glory in the Holy

0:03:24.060 --> 0:03:27.549
<v Speaker 1>One of Israel. When the poor and needy search for

0:03:27.650 --> 0:03:30.430
<v Speaker 1>water and there is none, and their tongues are parched

0:03:30.490 --> 0:03:35.160
<v Speaker 1>from thirst, then I, the Lord, will answer them. I,

0:03:35.170 --> 0:03:38.900
<v Speaker 1>the God of Israel, will never abandon them. I will

0:03:38.970 --> 0:03:42.500
<v Speaker 1>open up rivers for them on the high plateaus. I

0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:45.840
<v Speaker 1>will give them fountains of water in the valleys. I

0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:50.520
<v Speaker 1>will fill the desert with pools of water. Rivers fed

0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:54.690
<v Speaker 1>by springs will flow across the parched ground. I will

0:03:54.710 --> 0:04:02.470
<v Speaker 1>plant trees in the barren desert, cedar, acacia, myrtle, olive, cypress, fir,

0:04:02.900 --> 0:04:07.060
<v Speaker 1>and pine. I am doing this so all who see

0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:11.220
<v Speaker 1>this miracle will understand what it means. That it is

0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:14.000
<v Speaker 1>the Lord who has done this, the Holy One of

0:04:14.180 --> 0:04:18.380
<v Speaker 1>Israel who created it. Present the case for your idols,

0:04:18.640 --> 0:04:21.920
<v Speaker 1>says the Lord. Let them show what they can do,

0:04:22.180 --> 0:04:25.390
<v Speaker 1>says the King of Israel. Let them try to tell

0:04:25.690 --> 0:04:29.029
<v Speaker 1>us what happened long ago so that we may consider

0:04:29.089 --> 0:04:32.090
<v Speaker 1>the evidence. Or let them tell us what the future

0:04:32.150 --> 0:04:36.990
<v Speaker 1>holds so we can know what's going to happen. Yes,

0:04:37.589 --> 0:04:40.490
<v Speaker 1>tell us what will occur in the days ahead. Then

0:04:40.570 --> 0:04:43.969
<v Speaker 1>we will know you are gods. In fact, do anything,

0:04:44.089 --> 0:04:48.130
<v Speaker 1>good or bad. Do something that will amaze and frighten us.

0:04:49.170 --> 0:04:52.880
<v Speaker 1>But no, you are less than nothing and can do

0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:59.130
<v Speaker 1>nothing at all Those who choose you pollute themselves. But

0:04:59.250 --> 0:05:01.710
<v Speaker 1>I have stirred up a leader who will approach from

0:05:01.770 --> 0:05:05.610
<v Speaker 1>the north. From the east he will call on my name.

0:05:06.490 --> 0:05:10.050
<v Speaker 1>I will give him victory over kings and princes. He

0:05:10.100 --> 0:05:14.500
<v Speaker 1>will trample them as a potter treads on clay. Who

0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:17.779
<v Speaker 1>told you from the beginning that this would happen? Who

0:05:17.820 --> 0:05:21.820
<v Speaker 1>predicted this, making you admit that he was right? No

0:05:21.920 --> 0:05:25.730
<v Speaker 1>one said a word. I was the first to tell Zion, look,

0:05:26.060 --> 0:05:29.130
<v Speaker 1>help is on the way. I will send Jerusalem a

0:05:29.250 --> 0:05:33.349
<v Speaker 1>messenger with good news. Not one of your idols told

0:05:33.390 --> 0:05:37.950
<v Speaker 1>you this. No one gave any answer when I asked. See,

0:05:38.710 --> 0:05:44.620
<v Speaker 1>they are all foolish, worthless things. All your idols are

0:05:44.700 --> 0:05:53.070
<v Speaker 1>as empty as the wind. Let's pray. Lord, we thank

0:05:53.089 --> 0:05:55.150
<v Speaker 1>you for your word and we thank you for the

0:05:55.210 --> 0:05:57.120
<v Speaker 1>privilege to be able to look at this portion of

0:05:57.200 --> 0:06:01.020
<v Speaker 1>scripture today and to recognize that you alone are God,

0:06:01.580 --> 0:06:04.980
<v Speaker 1>that the idols that our hearts sometimes crave and that

0:06:05.060 --> 0:06:10.260
<v Speaker 1>humanity from our earliest days have attempted to worship are nothing.

0:06:11.490 --> 0:06:15.229
<v Speaker 1>Those idols are absolutely nothing. They can't tell us about

0:06:15.250 --> 0:06:18.510
<v Speaker 1>the past. They can't predict the future. They're just man-made

0:06:18.610 --> 0:06:23.710
<v Speaker 1>substitutes that compete for our affections for you Lord, we

0:06:23.730 --> 0:06:25.830
<v Speaker 1>know that your calling on our lives is that we

0:06:25.850 --> 0:06:28.250
<v Speaker 1>would be men and women who trust in you by

0:06:28.370 --> 0:06:32.169
<v Speaker 1>faith in your Son, Jesus Christ, and that our lives

0:06:32.250 --> 0:06:36.170
<v Speaker 1>reflect the nature of our genuine faith. So, Lord, we

0:06:36.210 --> 0:06:38.310
<v Speaker 1>pray that by your grace that we would walk with

0:06:38.350 --> 0:06:41.950
<v Speaker 1>you today, and we thank you that you're present with us. Lord,

0:06:41.990 --> 0:06:44.110
<v Speaker 1>we love you, we commit this day to your care,

0:06:44.370 --> 0:06:47.950
<v Speaker 1>and we pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.