The LORD: The Book of Isaiah
01. Wickedness and Grace
February 3, 2019
Isaiah lived in a time of major social upheaval and personal struggle. In the midst of it all, he receives a vision of the LORD, and begins a ministry of telling everyone that the LORD is the central factor to everything in life. In the first chapter of the book, Isaiah teaches us about the LORD, his wayward people, and his plan to save them. At the center is the LORD's character, goodness, and love, which we see ultimately in Jesus. Application Questions 1. How is the God of the Bible unique? Are there ways your default ideas about God don't line up with the way the LORD describes himself in the Bible? 2. Can you relate to Isaiah's description of human beings rebelling against God's desires and being hurt in the process? 3. Have you ever used religious activities to pretend that you love God when really they are just ways to do whatever you want and still feel spiritual? 4. What would change about your life if you understood the LORD is the biggest, the best, and loves you the most? How can meditating on the gospel remind you that it's true?
02. Holiness and Grace
February 10, 2019
Isaiah's call to ministry teaches us the pattern of true spirituality. Isaiah is overwhelmed by God's holiness and then met with undeniable grace. After that, he commits his entire life to God's service. This same process happens not once but regularly for anyone who relates to God. Today we face the same question the nation of Israel faced in the times of Isaiah: will we distance ourselves from the reality of God or acknowledge his reality and embrace his holiness and grace? Application Questions 1. Do you underestimate God's size and holiness in your daily life? What impact does that have on you? 2. How have you experienced the connection between God's holiness and his grace? How might you cultivate an understanding of God'sholiness so that you can understand his grace more deeply? 3. Are there any ways you push away the reality of God in your daily life? How can you cultivate the reality of God's holiness and grace instead?
03. The Judgment of the LORD
February 19, 2019
Judgment is an uncomfortable idea. Why would you ever want to listen to a sermon on judgment? In this sermon, we explore why we, in fact, ought to be deeply comforted and assured by God's judgment. God's perfect judgment brings about the justice that our souls crave in a rampantly unjust and unfair world. More than this, the more we come to understand God's perfect judgment, the more we come to comprehend the sheer magnitude of his grace. Isaiah pronounces judgment upon the nations of the earth, and upon the entire earth itself. Yet, in the midst of this focus on judgment we continually find hope, joy, and grace in the promise of a future Messiah. Application Questions 1. In what ways do you find your soul longing for justice in our fallen world? 2. How does God'sjudgment of both the nations and individuals reflect the perfection of his character? 3. How does studying Isaiah help us to combat the false characterization of the God of the Old Testament being a God of judgment and the God of the New Testament being a God of love? 4. What is an aspect of God's judgment that you normally don't think about that you should probably strive to remember more regularly? 5. How does considering the reality of God's judgment help you to appreciate the magnitude of his grace?
04. The Victory of the LORD
February 24, 2019
The LORD reveals Himself through the prophet Isaiah as the God who is victorious. No other god, no other person, no other thing will ultimately have HIs plan or purpose accomplished in the world, except for God. His victory now in our lives is not exactly the same as His ultimate victory when He will create a new heavens and a new earth, but His victory is real now, and will be secured and assured forever. Application Questions 1. What does the word“victory” mean to you? 2, How does God's definition of victory in the“now” differ from what you thought victory should be? 3. How often do you think about God's future victory? Why do you not think of it more?
05. The Faithfulness of the LORD
March 4, 2019
We are an increasingly restless people, constantly busy and always working on various parts of our lives. Humans have always naturally tried to work our way to strength, stability and security. In Isaiah, we've seen the the LORD is the only rational place to put our trust and hope for the future. But the people of Israel—and us today—turn instead to other ways of managing our fears and desires. Nevertheless, God is faithful to continue to show mercy, and we see it in a climactic way in Jesus Christ. When we turn to the LORD and see his faithfulness, we can find a deep rest for our souls that is available nowhere else. Application Questions 1. How do you experience tiredness and restlessness in your life? How does it affect you? 2. Where do you look to find rest and blessing in your life?How have those things still left you restless? 3. What would it look like for you to rest in the Lord? How would your life change if you trusted the Lord exclusively?
06. The Comfort of the LORD
March 12, 2019
As the book of Isaiah transitions to the message God gave the exiles for the time when they would inevitably be taken into exile, we find a powerful message of comfort. In the depths of sorrow, when dreams have been destroyed and lives have been turned upside down, God reminds us that he is near, he is holding us close, and he has the power to bring about his promised redemption. Application Questions 1. Is comfort something you are currently longing for from God? If not, in what ways do you think keeping the message of his comfort in your pocket will be helpful? 2. When can you remember having experienced God gathering you in his arms and holding you close? 3. How does God's power make the promises of God's redemption truly comforting? 4. Where are you tempted to look for comfort, asking“are you my god?” 5. What truths do you need to remember in order to be able to truly trust God and wait on his perfect timing and redemption in your life?
07. The LORD Alone
March 17, 2019
Whether we realize it or not, each of us is prone to put our trust in idols instead of God. We look to idols to provide purpose and direction to our lives, to meet our wants and needs, and to be present with us to make us feel whole. The Bible presupposes that we are all idolators, so The LORD speaks to reveal the stupidity of our idol worship, and to draw us back to the source of our true hope: The LORD alone. Application Questions 1. What are some things that stir your emotions more than the truths of the gospel? What idols might be behind these emotions? 2. Think about the most significant goal that you have for your life right now. Where did it come from? How do you know if it is a worthwhile goal to be pursuing? 3. In what ways are the idols you are tempted by really the work of your own hands? How do these realizations impact the attractiveness of idols to you?
08. The Song of the Servant
March 24, 2019
All of human history points to and culminates in the person of the Servant. The entirety of the Bible up to the point of Isaiah asks the question,“Who is the Messiah? Who will save us?” , and the book of Isaiah itself leads up to this point where the LORD introduces His Servant to His People. This Servant is in the exact nature of the LORD Himself: gracious, just, merciful, powerful, and accomplishes the LORD's purpose to establish His Kingdom. Application Questions 1. What would it look like for you to“sing a new song” to the LORD and His Servant? 2. What are ways that Jesus needs to be more in the foreground in your life, and less blurry and in the background? 3. How could you grow in praising Jesus this week?
09. The Love of the Servant
March 31, 2019
The center of Isaiah focuses on the Servant, whom the New Testament authors identify as Jesus Christ. This is the second of four“servant songs” that detail why Jesus comes into the world and what he comes to accomplish. Here we see the breadth and the depth of Jesus'mission, and also something more: we get a lesson in how to experience his love when we feel numb to it. Application Questions 1. What about Jesus in this passage makes him worth “foregrounding” in your life? How might that affect different parts of a typical day? 2. Have you ever found yourself believing things about Jesus without being personally affected? Why do you think that happens? 3. How can you meditate more on the love of God in Jesus Christ? How do you think that would affect you?
10. The Disgrace of the Servant
April 7, 2019
Isaiah 50 is telling us an incredible story. You and I have dishonored the Lord, and He is right to reject us in everlasting disgrace. But, instead, He gives us His Servant as His instrument of redemption. The Servant accomplishes our redemption by leveraging the honor befitting His obedience and intimacy with The LORD for our sake. To rid us of disgrace, He embraced disgrace, to bring us a transforming honor that gives a whole new identity to disgraced sinners like us. Application Questions 1. How does the concept of honor/shame affect the way you think about your sin and separation from God? 2. In what ways are you trying to manufacture your own honor to hide your shame? How can you“unmask” yourself and turn to the LORD for new honor? 3. Spend time meditating on the difference between the Servant's character and disgrace compared to your own. What response seems most suitable in light of these differences?
11. Awake, Awake
April 14, 2019
In the midst of the Servant Songs, we pause to look at Israel's ideas about God. Encouraged by his promises of redemption, they tell the Lord to“awake, awake” and come to rescue them. But this betrays their way of thinking: that thus far, God has been asleep to them. The Lord's response is to tell them and show them that He has been awake to them, but they have fallen asleep on him. The same can be said of us. God shows us what it means to be spiritually alert to him and centers us on the Servant, Jesus Christ. Application Questions 1. Have you ever felt like God was asleep to your needs? Looking back, do you think that was true? 2. Are you awake or asleep to the reality of Jesus? Are there ways you see spiritual drowsiness in your life? 3. How can you cultivate spiritual alertness in your life?
12. The Death of the Servant
April 19, 2019
As we meditate on the reality of the physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering that Jesus endured at the crucifixion, we begin to understand the immense power of God's grace and love demonstrated at the cross. The horror of the cross is meant to show us the devastating nature of our sin, and the unfathomable lengths that God would go to in order to bring us back to himself.
13. The LORD Your Husband
April 28, 2019
God is our husband. It can seem like a pretty strange analogy. Sometimes we don't know what to do with it, or even how we feel about it. What does it even mean? God has designed marriage to be a picture, a shadow, of the ultimate true love we have with him. This is what every romantic love story points to. And to understand the depth of the love of God, we need to feel the depth of that love when he declares,“your Maker is your Husband.” Application Questions 1. What comes to mind when you think of God as a husband to his people? In what ways does this reflect the reality of his relationship with us? 2. How can you practically chase after God and the true love you find only in him? 3. How might life look differently if you were to pursue God as the ultimate love and fulfillment of life? 4. Reflect on the fact that God's ways are higher than your ways and his thoughts are higher than your thoughts. How does this bring comfort and confidence to your understanding of his love?
14. An Everlasting Name
May 5, 2019
Like the leaders of Israel in Isaiah's time, we often are short-sighted, seeing this world and only this world. But when God breaks into our world we see with new eyes; we see a God who turns the world upside down, giving hope and everlasting joy to those who have none in this world. Application Questions 1. What are the ways that you see short-sightedness in your life? 2. How can you fight the temptation to believe that“tomorrow will be like today” ? 3. What is significant about God offering an“everlasting name” ? 4. How would your life change if you viewed your life through the lens of eternity?
15. Comfort for Idolaters
May 12, 2019
In light of the Servant, what happens to people who build their security on other things? The LORD tells his people that all their attempts to find satisfaction outside of him leave them http://empty...yet they return to them over and over again. And yet God invites them to take refuge in him, and demonstrates that even though the problem is deeper than they realize, his love runs deeper still through the servant, Jesus Christ. Application Questions 1. What are some things in your life that promise satisfaction and don't deliver, but you keep turning to them anyways? 2. How do those things take God's place in your life? 3. What would it look like for you to find comfort in God instead of those idols?