The Bible Breakdown

Isaiah 54:God is Better than a Bulletproof Vest

• Brandon Cannon • Episode 632

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Speaker 1:

Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today, isaiah, chapter 54, and today's title is God is better than a bulletproof vest. God is better than a bulletproof vest. Now, disclaimer the example I'm going to use. I do not in any way advocate you should try, but it's something to hopefully maybe stick in your brain. We're going to get all that in just a moment.

Speaker 1:

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Speaker 1:

Don't forget, the overall idea of the book of Isaiah is God is our salvation. God is the one who saves us from all the things that both happen to us and the things that we're kind of it's our fault Either way. God is with us and he wants to save us. And that is the idea of this chapter. It's going to talk about the different things that can happen, but at the same time, it's also that we don't need to be afraid because God can save us. And what it reminds me of is I watched this YouTube video one time of this extremely dumb idiot.

Speaker 1:

Okay, like pastor, that's pretty extreme. Well, listen, he actually recorded himself on the YouTubes of someone shooting him in the chest. Okay, he had a bulletproof vest on and he was saying I am so confident in this bulletproof vest that I'm gonna let my friend shoot me. Well, can I first of all say if that joker is willing to shoot you, he is not your friend. Okay, I don't know what he is, but you need to redefine that word friendship right, but he did it and he survived, praise the Lord. And now he's crazy. I mean you should never do that. But he had such confidence in that bulletproof vest that he was willing for someone to shoot him in order to prove how effective it was. And can I tell you, you should never do that.

Speaker 1:

But here's the thing about life you don't have to put God to the test. There's plenty of people around us who will gladly oblige. You know God needing to help you, because hurting people hurt people. That includes us, but there's hurting people all around us. There's people that we work with, there's family, there's somebody that's going to cut in front of you in traffic, or cut in front of you in line, or someone's going to ask you to come see their cat. I mean, there's all kinds of people that are going to try to hurt you in life. But what's amazing is is that God is greater than anything that life wants to try to bring, and that's what this chapter is all about. It's about the future glory of Jerusalem and that God is their salvation and as they continue to turn their life over to him, nothing can overcome and overwhelm them. And can I tell you, it's the same thing with our lives. And so let's dive into this Isaiah, chapter 54, and let's see what God's word has to say about the future glory of Jerusalem. Here we go.

Speaker 1:

Isaiah 54, verse 1, says this children than the woman who lives with her husband, says the Lord. Enlarge your house, build an addition, spread out your home and spare no expense, for you will soon be bursting at the seams, you descendants who occupy other nations and resettle the ruined cities. Fear not, you will no longer live in shame. Don't be afraid, there is no more disgrace for you. You will no longer remember the shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood, for your Creator will be your husband. The Lord of Heaven's armies is His name. He is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of all the earth. The Lord has called you back from your grief, as though you were a young wife abandoned by her husband. Now, remember back then. What would happen was is inside the home, the woman was in charge of all the things, like they did all the things. The husband's job was to go bring in the food, the stuff, the whatever. And that's how that cooperation would work together. And what God is saying is Israel. You're like someone who hasn't had a husband, in other words, you haven't had someone to take care of the things that you can't take care of. But I'm going to come and I'm going to fix that, and so that's the idea of where he's using this analogy and I think it's amazing and awesome. Okay, here we go.

Speaker 1:

Verse seven for a brief moment, I abandoned you, but with great compassion I will take you back. In a burst of anger, I turned my face away for a little while, but with everlasting love, I Hasn't it felt like that sometimes, that God sometimes will lift his hand of blessing off of you. And many times after, god says, over and over and over again I need you to come back to me, I need you to trust me, I need you to repent of your sin, and we just basically say, no. God will go through a season where he says, okay, go try it, go see how it works, and then we realize we really do need God. And what God is saying is you, you walked away from me and I'll let you do it, but I'm going to take you back. Isn't that amazing? All right, verse nine just as I swore in the time of Noah that I would never again let a flood cover the earth. So now I swear that I will never again.

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And here's the verse, verse 10. Says the Lord who has mercy on you. I love that Verse 11. Oh, storm-battered city, troubled and desolate, you will rebuild. I will rebuild you with precious jewels and make your foundations like lapis lazuli. I will make your towers of sparkling rubies, your gates of shining gems and your walls of precious stones. I will teach all your children so that they will enjoy great peace. You will be secure under a government that is just and fair. Praise the Lord, your enemies will stay far away. You will live in peace and terror will not come near. If any nation comes to fight you, it is not because I sent them. Whoever attacks you will go down in defeat. I have created the blacksmith who fans the coals beneath the forge and makes weapons of destruction. I have created the armies that destroy, but in that coming day, no weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord. Their vindication will come from me. I, the Lord, have spoken Now.

Speaker 1:

Remember, at the very beginning I said there was this, this idiot. Okay, now you understand why I call him that, this idiot who lets someone shoot him in the chest with a bullet. And I guess maybe I owe a little bit of this idiocy, because he did it on YouTube to get people to watch the video, and I watched the video, right. But he had so much confidence in this piece of fabric, right, that he was willing to let someone shoot him. And you know, I think sometimes we put more faith in the things we can see than in the things we can't see. And I don't want to put that on you, but I'll put that on me. Like there's so many times when God says just trust me, trust that I'm doing more than you can see, and don't worry because the day is coming. No weapon turned against you will succeed. That doesn't mean I mean, that's the most interesting thing about this In verse 17, it says no weapon turned against you will succeed.

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You know what that means. That means there's going to be times in our life when there will be weapons turned against us. Think about that. That's one of those things about people who unintentionally, I think set themselves up for failure because they think that being a Christian means you're never going to have a problem, and being a Christian means you can't admit you have a problem. You know, the other day I was talking to someone and I was like man, I'm just not feeling good today. And they said oh, don't speak that over your life, don't speak that. I was like what do you mean? He said well, your words have power. I said they absolutely have power. I'm not speaking a curse on my life, I'm just saying what is.

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And the thing is, the Bible says we can definitely say what is, and that is to say there are some times that there's weapons turned against us. The difference is is when we realize that that, when we think, rather, that's all that's happening, like it's. If all you think that's happening is you're having a bad day, well then, now that's a problem. But if you realize I might be having a bad day, but God is in control finish the sentence then that's okay, because in this life Jesus promised we will have trouble. This verse says no weapon turned against you will prosper, which means there's going to be times when weapons are going to be turned against you. However, they're not going to succeed. They will not win because God is in control. God is better than any bulletproof vest. And that doesn't mean that you're never going to get figuratively shot at, but it means with every shot, with everything, with every hurting person that comes against you, no matter what, nothing will be able to stop God from doing what he wants to do in your life.

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So here's the question Are you having more faith in a negative circumstance than you're having in God right now? Maybe there's something in your life and you are allowing it to steal your joy. You're allowing it to steal your confidence in God. You're putting more faith in its ability than in God's ability. If that's you, I want to give you kind of a breath of fresh air to say you know what the rest of us struggle with. That, too, it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you for struggling with that. The important thing is to realize that someone once said worry is practical atheism, because it means that you're giving something else more power than God. I don't know if I can go that far with it, but it does make sense. And so is there something in your life that you're afraid God can't take care of, and so after we get through with this, maybe your next step is to pray and say God with all the confidence and hope I have.

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I choose to trust you today. I choose to trust you with my family, with my finances, with my wounds, my health, my whatever. It is God's bigger than all of it, but he will wait for you to turn it over to him. So let's not waste any time. Let's turn it over to him today. Let's pray together, god. Thank you so much that you are for us and not against us. Thank you, god, that you see us and that you know us.

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And right now, god, we just turn all of our lives over to you. We trust you with everything. We know, god, that nothing that comes against us will prosper. We realize that means that there will be things that will come against us, but your word promises that all things work together to the good, even the weapons formed against us. We celebrate that today. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen, amen. We'll say this with me. God's word says in Isaiah, chapter 12, verse 2, god has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord is my strength and my song. He has given me victory. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. For Isaiah, chapter 55.

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Brandon Cannon

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