God’s Miraculous Love Letter, Part 2

Today on Senate Jeannie Greer.

Faith is the unexplainable meeting. The undeniable is the unexplainable meeting the undeniable and what is undeniable. His prophecies are divine. These prophecies tell the life of Jesus spoke the purpose of the details of it was the Bible. Jeannie Greer, as always, I'm your host Molly, but a batch you know I've been doing this for quite some time now and it's safe to say that it is just as exciting and rewarding. Today is the day I started you know why it's because messages like the one on today's program actually can change people. This isn't just a job for me it's a mission. So, welcome back once again, you know, I bet if you asked in APS why they don't believe in God, they probably say something along the lines of, well, there just isn't any evidence, but is that really the case is our faith just based on wishful thinking, or are there logical evidentiary reasons to believe the Bible pastor Jeannie Greer argues that there are and that to subject today on Summit life. He's taking us through the prophecies of Isaiah the book that can only be explained by divine inspiration. In fact he calls this book of the Bible, God's miraculous love letter. So let's join him right now you have a Bible will take it out and opened it to Isaiah chapter 52 I'm going to use the text of Sally Lloyd Jones Jesus storybook Bible where Sally Lloyd Jones summarizes Isaiah's prophecies in the form of a love letter to God, wrote to Israel. You say Jesus or the Bible is about a kids book. Arguably, usually about theology. Are we all adults.

Why yes you are. Yes I am yes it is. I think that she does a great job of capturing the entire message of the whole of Isaiah's message so use her, summary of walk you through it.

Now a few different parts of it and explain it because literally just about every word about shopper just comes from a verses like she strung together a bunch of different versus certain we all start getting their little flock there, little foxes Isaiah you're all wondering away from me like sheep in an open field. You've always been running away from me and now you're lost. You can find your way back. This is the substance of the Bible's description of the problem from the garden of Eden on word we've all been running away and now Isaiah says like she perceived that everyone of us believes we know the best way for us to go so we choose our own way. Now most of you probably don't have a great deal of experience received. I certainly do not either, but those who do say that sheep are a particularly dumb animal, and I just this week I saw an article you may have seen this that a shepherd in Spain fell asleep for an hour and 1300 seat went into downtown Madrid.

That's where they ended up what is there to see :-) that's probably a good way to go was for the building Charles overall the driver get just dumb. Now this is not a very flattering picture of us, but you have to admit while unflattering is pretty compassionate is how God sees us. He sees us like sheep will also way week so we don't know where we came from and don't want to get back and were confused were lost. So God continues but I can't stop loving, come to find you some sending you a shepherd look after you and love you to carry back home to me all the gospel is not that we came searching for God. The gospel is a guy came searching for us and he said I did this. Isaiah 43 for I did this because you work precious in my eyes and I love you. The God of the universe. Isaiah says he looked at you. The rebellious sheep and he said your precious to me someone to come like a shepherd to find you look 15 Jesus would describe that shepherd talking of course about himself by describing them like a like one. What 100 sheep. That's a lot of sheet I discovered late one night, one of them was missing. Jesus said that shepherd this shepherd let the 99 one city had to go after the lost one, which honestly does not make a lot of financial sense, know the only way that you would do that is of each individual one was precious to you.

God says this is how I see you, and then God continues to Isaiah is more than just come after the seat of my life for the seat is a 53 for leaving the 99 go after the one did make financial sense, and this is just insane words any analogies we would have to describe the kind of love is a can't stop loving you is somewhere around the people in a dark room and into the darkness of bright light is shined bright light as you chase away all the shadows of sunshine like that is going to show up the sunshine to come in the form of a baby will be born miraculously to a virgin's name will be Emmanuelle Emmanuel, which means literally in Hebrew, God is going to live with us is also Isaiah says go to be one of King David's children's children's children. This Jesus is to be the son of God and man, fully God and fully man.

Yes somebody to come and rescue you.

But he will be who anyone expects to be a king. But he won't live in a palace and you will have lots of money is to be poor became like nobody you've ever seen will be a servant. This came to be able to heal the whole world is a God could have been glorified coming to earth to avenge the wrongs and to punish the criminals. But God said there's a greater glory that I will get that doesn't come through smashing them will become from being smashed for them as I give myself in love to receive them, he will suffer and die but he won't stay dead may come alive again one day because Dr. will forever mountains and the trees will dance and sing for joy. The article shout out loud this thing will fill the whole earth, like the waters fill the oceans.

Everything started to become untrue, even death is going to die. What an incredible story incredible story by like Isaiah laments nobody believed him. Nobody believed in why why did not believe him. Well, it's like Sally will Jones ends that the chapters is that it seemed probably a fairytale CS Lewis wrote an essay sizzles was a literary scholar at Oxford before becoming a Christian.

CS Lewis wrote this essay on fairy tales and myths in the process of becoming a Christian, which he explained was evidence.

He says all of mankind's myths and fairytales. They all follow a pattern that is because their expressions listen yearning deep in our hearts. All these fairytales follow a pattern because our hearts are making them up, but because they are hungry for the very thing they were created for you. See what he saying there all these fairytales follow a pattern because there's something behind them that were yearning for and we almost know is true I give you an example. Beauty and the beast is in beauty and the beast you have you got a man who is disfigured beyond human likeness. Because of selfish proud decisions that he is made as a result, he is appalling to look at.

That's a picture of the human condition. Many of us feel like at least inwardly were really ugly and we don't want people to see inside of us of a solid thought about.

They'd be appalled to see what we want to do is want to try to work on our exterior beauty and keep people at a distance from our inward ugliness. Some of us were really hard at looking good on the outside of his office look great on the outside is not really an option to what you do is you try to make yourself beautiful through becoming really good at what you do. I may be really good. You're good at your job or make a lot of money.

Or maybe it was good morally.

You become this attractive person that's adding beauty so that people will love you but for the beast to be saved. Beauty has to actually kiss them, they'll have to kiss him. Why would she kiss him. She has to kiss them because she loves him. Jesus is going to go a step farther than Belle ever did because he's not only going to love the beast and kiss the beast he's going to become the beast in our place so that by becoming him in becoming us we can become human. We can become beautiful like we was deep down, all of us yearn for that to be true. You see, our hearts and know that kind of love exist which is why the theme appears in so many of our fairytales. The details of the fairytales all made up with a yearning behind him is real because were created for that kind of love is not a fairytale is not a fairytale. It is the story that undergirds all of our greatest aspirations in and of the other reason.

Isaiah said that everybody nobody would believe them. As he says, because we don't want to be true in some ways I know that sounds a contradiction part of us wanted to be true part is done. As this is they don't want to hear God's promise because our hearts are simple, listen, and if these things are true if these things are true and that means that God is God and that means that his ways are right and that means that he's in charge, not us and for us to confess and this is really from God means we have to confess that where he and I disagree. I'm in the wrong and that means I gotta stop arguing with God about how I think things ought to be about more unusual example of this. When I am two years ago I befriended a girl named Carolyn who was a Muslim to burn up in central Asia and was now the United States mean a group of friends share the gospel with her numerous times. After about six months together. Six-month study and I do different things. She said I've come to the conclusion that Jesus really was the Messiah.

I believe he died for my sins, and I believe he rose from the dead.

She said the one thing I cannot accept and I can never accept is that he was part of this thing you call the Trinity. The reason she said that is because from childhood race in central Asia. She gone to a mosque where every week they said God cannot be a Trinity, God cannot be a Trinity Jesus, it makes sense to me. I can accept that. So I will show you where the Bible taught that numerous times that you can accept it. One night I we were sitting around on the coffee table and I said is a Carolyn was and what is Jesus all the sudden right now. The resurrected Jesus showed up somehow prove you that was him and then he looked at you in the face of his and Carolyn.

I'm not going to Trinity you you never can understand an impact in this life, but it's true and I want you to trust me that it's true.

Even though you don't understand it in one day when we get to heaven, I will expand your mind, Carolyn, and then you can understand it but until then you're just gonna have to trust me even when you don't understand it, as it would you do with them. Would you believe in the trust of men just a supersmart girl. She, sat back and she said I guess that's where the question is an the question is am I willing to trust God. If I can't understand it and do I believe that this Bible that you keep going back to is the word of God one home on that night she calls next morning 6 AM just out of her mind just like like to breathe out of breath and she's like we will have me last night she was. You think I'm crazy. You sit down. I think I'm crazy. She said last night at 4 o'clock I woke up some. I was knocking on my door and I try to ignore and they kept knocking on my door.

Eventually I got up and I will go to my door and not the entire time until I got up to the door and open the door of 10, but nobody was there.

Generally think I'm crazy, but I I am positive about was Jesus putting that sound in my heart try to show me that he wanted me to receive him. She's maybe I am crazy but I know that Jesus really is. If he says he is and if he says that he is a part of a Trinity than I'm willing to trust him even though I don't understand it.

Melissa that may not be your issue and backup probably is not. If you were raised in a mosque. But you got something you got so I don't know why God's doing this in the world.

I know I want to say this is wrong. You got any number of things you can understand if you wait on Jesus to answer all your questions. You will never come to him because he never promises he will decide of eternity.

Faith is accepting what you cannot understand based on what you can understand and what you can understand is that these promises are divine. These prophecies are legitimate and real orders bothered from the definition of faith.

Faith is the unexplainable meeting the undeniable is the unexplainable meeting the undeniable and what is undeniable is that these prophecies are divine. These prophecies tell the life of Jesus about the purpose of the details of it with staggering specificity, which is think about it Georgia tells us of the coming Messiah would be born of a virgin, Isaiah 714 he be from the line of Abraham. Genesis 2280 to be a descendent of the line of Judah was a $0.49. He would be from the household of David Jeremiah 23 five, he would be born in Bethlehem. Micah 52, he would be presented with gifts of his birth so 7210 and then be forced to flee primeval king who wanted to kill all the children in the region of Bethlehem on his behalf. Jeremiah 3150.

Then the exile to Egypt was a kid, I returned home to Israel from their Hosea 11 one.

He would claim to be God with us. Isaiah 714 would function as a prophet. Deuteronomy 1818, the priest someone to for the king's own through verse six. It would be a teacher parable Psalm 78 to be proceeded by messenger who cried out in the wilderness. Isaiah 40 verse three he would begin his ministry in Galilee.

Isaiah 9 verse one we would perform many miracles. Isaiah 35, six, he would enter into Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey. Zechariah 99 and then there are more than 20 prophecies that get fulfilled in his life and one day Scripture tells us the coming Messiah would be betrayed by friends on 41 nine sold for 30 pieces of silver. Zechariah 1112, that same silver will be thrown back into the temple and then be used to buy a potter's field. Zechariah 1113 and the hours right before his death he would be abandoned by his friend Zachariah 713 seven you be accused of false witnesses. Psalm 3511. He would stand silent before his accusers while they talk of him. Isaiah 53, seven, you will be wounded and bruised.

Isaiah 53 five mocks on 42 seven will be beaten and spat upon Isaiah 50 verse six he would have his garment split up and gambled for Psalm 2218, he would physically stumble under the weight of his affliction someone or not. 24. At his death he would have his hands and prepare Psalm 2216 be executed between two criminals. Isaiah 5312. It would experience great thirst. Psalm 5921 he would pray for his persecutors while they killed as a 5312 Heaviside Pierce Zechariah 1210. Despite great physical threat travail and having his hands pierced his side. Pierce, one of his bones will be broken. Psalm 3420 he would die at midday, and during the hour of his death. Darkness would miraculously descend upon the earth. A mistake mine they would then be buried in a rich man's tomb. Isaiah 53, nine, after which he would be resurrected.

The father's right hand pour out just of his followers. Psalm 1610 and 6818. Now you think well that's just coincidence.

Mathematicians say the odds of all these things kind of randomly happening one person is wanted hundred and 57 power 110 with 100 to 7 zeros after it 52, separating is one of the seven zeros just to put that in perspective of this book I was reading said mathematicians with 110 of the 16 powers they would describe that if you want to take silver dollars and cover the surface area of the state of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia and silver dollars to three beat your sins and silver dollars everywhere paint one of them randomly read and just hide it mixed up somewhat. One of them been take a blind man and catapult him from somewhere in Maryland and let him lay in the middle of the states and give him one shot to pick out the right silver dollar.

The chances of one 10, the 16th out. This is wanted tended to hundred 57 power rails alternate medical all this is anything beyond what Nintendo 50 of power is a statistical impossibility and impossibility. These of the Bible were given in great detail.

Not one of them is ever proven incorrect which put them into an entirely different category of Nostradamus or the Mayans or anybody else you so I know maybe the gospel accounts of been doctored up to confirm the prophecies like another early churches like Cano's renewed Zachariah the 30 pieces of silver thing.

Let's make up a story about Judas right yet that may have worked for a few of them. They may Bennett be able to get away with it, but most of these prophecies were out of their control and they would've been easy to refute if they were true all the early Jewish and Roman leaders had a lot of motivation to review these things, they would've been like him one morning Bethlehem didn't grow up in Nazareth. We never did have some kind Judas 30 pieces of silver. The idea by the way that the early church just destroyed all the conflicting accounts of Jesus assumes that the church had some kind of controlling power that is historically this is not true for the first 300 years of the church's life. Christianity's enemies vastly outnumbered its followers and enemies were the ones who had all the power and if they gave that it existed they would've brought forward the things it would've undermined all these claims yet nobody ever did place you got asked this why what early Christians lie about these things if they were true. There's gotta be a motive.

People lie, but there's always a motive. Typically, when people lives to get them power, prestige, or try to escape harm or something that would happen to the early followers of Jesus know the opposite. Their confession got been persecuted. They lost their homes even their lives. You say well you know lots of people have died for a religious why yeah, but there's a difference between dying for a lie and dying for something you know to be alive is a huge difference in their sick great historical example. This chuckles just died last year was one of them. Richard Nixon's likely instrument's inner circle with the Watergate with Richard next.

It was not a Christian at that point and he said that the day that it broke they all got together in a room. The six men that all been part Watergate. He said I look around the room is the toughest man I've ever night the three of us were out of the Marine Corps on CEOs is really tough accomplishment that we found to one another that none of us would actually tell the truth, we would all maintain the story.

He said within 2 1/2 days, every single one of us had broken every single one of us because of the threats that were coming against us. He said the idea that 12 uneducated, untrained fishermen would maintain this line, knowing it was a lie to the day of their death could only be postulated by somebody who has no experience with these kinds of things that Blaise Pascal and my favorite philosopher says witnesses were willing to have their throats cut suddenly become believable to do Isaiah since the implications of this are what his love letter gives you a handful of things. Listen really quickly miss. I will wrap this up his belief you believe the arm of the Lord is revealed. Gotta believe maybe you're like my friend Carolyn maybe had all these reasons why it can't be true. Are you willing to doubt your doubts. I know you pride yourself on being a doubting person, will you doubt there's doubts in the face of evidence like this in the least, considerate because that's that the invitations and believe it. Believe it's verifiable. It's true, it's confirmed by things that could never just happen number two to the church, he says, processed you had a process in proclaiming this even when people don't believe because it is true, people's life and death depend on you.

Isaiah got the most ridiculous commission of anybody I've ever is a chapter 6 when God calls Isaiah he says. Isaiah how to spend your whole life talking about disabilities every listen to never reject you to kill you. Isaiah, but honest, would you keep reaching Isaiah Preaching to Preach he wouldn't give up that you notice right there in the Bible how he opens up something to me.

Isaiah 53 the great prophecy about Jesus's crucifixion. It was on the same who believed the report. Nobody nobody's listening to who was the arm of the Lord been revealed but he kept preaching while of this is a 5213 about good versus there's a promise, my servant will prosper. God says my servant when they will prosper and Isaiah reason. This way Jesus would not have gone to the trouble of dying just of the people get rejected. He went to the trouble dying because he wanted to say people so Isaiah went the people were listening, and he held up his hands and he proclaimed to them because he knew he knew that God would not have sent Jesus to die if God was not also to give certain people the power to believe. Which leads me to number three depends depends depend on God to change the hard look right there.

Verse 15 and in Isaiah 52 is also Eva servant will sprinkle many nations write what you sprinkle them with my magic pixie dust. What is it, watch what happens. We sprinkles up kings will shut their mouths on account of him for what it not been told and they will see and what they had not heard, they will suddenly understand the contrast nobody believes and also the servant stands up and sources sprinkle as he sprinkled all the people from Sidwell would not now understand what could happen when you tell these people in your life, or in other nations that are listening is the servant Jesus has a start sprinkling a start sprinkling that pixie dust for the Holy Spirit power that gives people the ability to believe, which is why I tell you that you never ever ought to talk to men and women about God without also spending a lot of time talking to God about these men and women as you preach all day long and nobody will believe. But then that servant stands up and he pulls out the Holy Spirit to be just our sprinkle like this and all of a sudden we will begin to come alive so you got a process you got a dependent and the last thing you gotta go, you gotta go through it.

Isaiah says restart chapter 52 verse seven how beautiful upon the mountains of the feet of them brings good news. Don't know what is a recall my feet pretty feet are not pretty at all their exceptionally ugly. My feet. I see your beautiful not because they look good because they bring good news not published piece I bring good news of happiness published salvation I say is I am God reigns we get to go summit shirts in the places whether it's in our community or neighborhoods or around the world and we get to go when we get to proclaim death does not have the last word you do not have to die under condemnation.

Jesus suffered in Your Pl. in God. Jesus is raised from the dead. The last word. The resurrection of Jesus is the! To the story. This is been a powerful truth from Pastor JD Greer on Senate life.

Maybe today during a place of skepticism. Maybe you're curious about God that you aren't completely convinced about and many believe the gospel, but you're just not sure what that means for you personally.

We'd like to help answer some of those questions for you.

In fact, we're really excited to make this new resource available to our listeners, Jenny, what is so special about these books of the Bible. Okay Molly honest time I've ever finished reading the book of the Bible. What on earth you just read this message. Can you say minor prophets might need to that's that's why want to spend my days helping you get the Bible as I believe the Bible is the book wherein God revealed himself and I think gives you the hope that you need to deal with whatever whatever problems whatever challenges you're facing. Carrying into eternity the set of cards will help you read to make connections with the context of the original audience you can use them. Keep them right by the place where you studied and I will give you an overview of each book, the relevant most relevant points.

Reflection questions and help you connect that to the context of the Bible.

It's such a great resource from from a friend summit life.

Mary Wiley was a brilliant Bible teacher, author, strategist, I'd love to be able to give you these if you reach out to JD Greer.com I can point you to these and I think of it will help to you definitely want to ask for the books of the Bible cards when you get today by calling 866-335-2268 335-5224. You can get online.com Molly benefits thank you so much for joining us this week here on the program, be sure to come back. Not were headed into the New Testament will be continuing our overview study the Bible be right back here Monday on my ear to ear many