God's Holy City - Ideal and Real

Isaiah 2:1-22

Sermon Notes:

1) The Glorious Future of God’s Holy City, 1-5

2) The Ugly Pride of Man’s Downfall, 6-19

3) The Terrible Dread of God’s Majesty, 10, 19-22

Reflection questions:

1) Is 2:1-5 seems to be a vision of what could be for God’s people. How much of this is possible on this side of heaven? Also see Matthew 5:13-16. What does Jesus call us to do in these verses? What does he want the end result to be (see v.16, especially)?

2) What can you learn about pride from this passage? What about these passages: James 4:6; Philippians 2:3-8 (esp vv.3-4); I Cor. 10:12; Rom. 12:3.

3) Many believe that Isaiah’s audience wanted the day of the Lord (so he would destroy their enemies) to come and that many of them were in for an unpleasant surprise, based on Isaiah’s prophecy. See Amos 5:18-20 for another example of this. What should Amos’s “be careful what you wish for” message teach us?