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1) Immanuel can be your hope, even in hard times, 8:1-10.
2) Immanuel can be your hope, even in lonely times, 8:11-22.
3) Immanuel can be your hope forevermore, 9:1-7.
1) Read Psalm 103:1-5. How can you “forget not all [the Lord’s] benefits?” During hard times, lonely times, and all times?
2) How has the Lord forgiven your iniquity?
3) How has He healed your diseases?
4) How has He shown you steadfast love and mercy?
1) The Call to Believe, 1-9.
2) The Cowardice that Looks Like Belief, 10-14.
3) The Consequences of Unbelief, 13-25.
4) The Colossal Good News out of Ahaz’s Bad Unbelief, v14; Matthew 1.
1. Should Ahaz have trusted God’s Word (1, the promise to David in 2 Sam 7:16; 2, the name of Isaiah’s son; 3, the Word to stand firm from Isaiah’s mouth)? Is God’s Word reliable? See Hebrews 6:13-20, “the certainty of God’s promise,” according to the ESV editors.
2. Why did Ahaz not believe? How did he try to make his unbelief sound like a good thing? Have you ever tried to fool others or yourself by using similar words?
3. Read Matthew 1:18-25. Why would believing Gabriel and taking Mary as his wife have been an act of costly obedience (or costly faith) for Joseph?
1) Seeing the Fullness of God’s Glory, 1-4
2) Seeing the Foul-ness of Man’s Sin, 5
3) Seeing the Forgiveness of God’s Atonement, 6-7
4) Seeing the Forecast for God’s Prophet: Sobering, yet Sure, 8-13
1. From Oswald Chambers: “Our soul’s personal history with God is often an account of the death of our heroes. Over and over again God has to remove our friends to put Himself in their place. … When the person died who represented for me all that God was, did I give up on everything in life? Did I become ill or disheartened or did I do as Isaiah did and see the Lord?” (Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, July 13).
2. What do you think of when you hear the phrases “remnant,” “holy seed,” “stump”? See the following passages in Isaiah to understand the promises that God, through Isaiah, gives to his holy seed or holy offspring: Isaiah 41:8; 43:5; 45:25; 53:10; 59:21; 65:9, 23; 66:22.
3. Can the Sovereign, infinite God be known truly, accurately, and reliably, if He has revealed Himself to us in His word? If He has stooped down to our level and used “baby talk” (a la John Calvin) to communicate with us, His creations? Can the infinite God be FULLY known by finite creatures such as us? See Romans 11:33-36.
1) The "religious" disrupted (v.44-45)
2) The "religious" thrust aside (v.46-47)
3) The mission continues (v.48-49)
1. How might being on mission for God disrupt our life?
2. What does it mean to be the people of God?
3. How can be we salt and light in our lives?
4. How does God's sovereignty spur us on toward mission?
1) The Worthless Wine-yard, 1-7
2) The Warnings of Woe, 8-25
6 Woes (vv 8, 11, 18, 20, 21, 22)
3) The Invading Warriors, 26-30
1) Have you ever read history and wondered why people back then couldn’t understand why this or that was so wrong? Consider Matthew 7:1-5 – Is it easier to see your own sin, or that of someone else?
2) Israel was rebuked for the sins of greed (v8), drunkenness (11, 22), arrogance (18-19), excusing their sin (20), conceitedness (21), and injustice in the form of accepting bribes (23) and possibly more. Do you see any of those sins in yourself? Which prayer is more fitting for you: ‘Redeem my life from the pit (Ps 103:4),’ OR, ‘Lead ME not into temptation (Mt 6:13; 1 Cor. 10:12)?’
3) Is the word “judgment” or “discipline” more appropriate for God’s actions against His people? No matter which word seems best and most Biblical, what comfort is there for God’s people when He allows unfortunate circumstances to come our way? See Hebrews 12:3-17.
1) Leaders Exiled, 3:1-15
2) Beauty Taken Away, 3:16-4:1
3) Home at Last, 4:2-6
1) God’s judgment upon Israel is her leaders being taken away. Are you preparing yourself to be leader? If you are a leader or a mature Christian, are you preparing others to lead and become more like Christ? See 1 Tim 3:1; 2 Tim. 2:1-2; Titus 2:1-8
2) Read Proverbs 31:30. Also read 1 Samuel 16:1-13 (especially vv.6-7, 12). Is beauty (or a good external appearance) a good thing or a bad thing? Or is it merely something that we overemphasize, something does not qualify or disqualify?
3) Read Isaiah 4:2-6, then read Revelation 19:6-9; 21:1-5. What images of Isaiah’s do you see John use in Revelation?
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
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?
1) God’s Rebellious Children Need a Bath, 1-17
Title and setting of the book, 1
Israel’s rebellion and ruin, 2-9
Israel’s ruined worship, 10-17
2) God’s Rebellious Children Have an Opportunity, 18-20
3) God’s Repentant Children Will See Justice Restored, 21-31
Justice (Paradise) Lost, 21-23
Justice = Restoration for the Weary, 24-27
Justice = Vengeance upon the Wicked, 28-31
1. What is the Bible’s idea of justice? Read Leviticus 19:9-18 and try to see the following points/illustrations/applications (especially the 4th one) of the “Love your neighbor as yourself” principle:
Vv. 9-10 – Loving others with our possessions
Vv. 11-12 – Loving others with our words
Vv. 13-14 – Loving others with our actions
Vv. 15-16 – Loving others with our judgments
Vv. 17-18 – Loving others with our attitude (Taken from DeYoung and Gilbert, What is the Mission of the Church?, pp. 142-147.)
1) The Dead End: Meaninglessness and Vanity under the Sun, Eccl 1-12
2) Man’s Chief End: Finding Meaning and Purpose BEYOND the sun, 12:8-14
3) Man’s Chief End: Fearing and Glorifying God, 12:13
What does it mean to Glorify God? (These lists are based on some Biblical word studies done by one of our elders.)
A) Fearing God in our hearts. Fear = awe leading to obedience and reliance on God (Paraphrased from Eerdman’s Concise Bible Handbook)
B) Praising and Thanking God in prayer and praise
Praising Him for who he is
Thanking Him for what he does
Such as: His attributes, benefits (including Salvation for us and others!), miracles, providence, and promises.
C) Honoring God in our actions
Stewardship
Sabbath rest and worship
Building and keeping a beautiful place of worship
Maintaining our physical fitness and chastity (because our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit)
Obedience (including the fruit of the Spirit, good works including evangelism)
Suffering for His name’s sake.
4) Man’s Chief End: Keeping His Commandments (to Make Disciples), 12:13
What is a disciple?
A) A follower and imitator of Christ
B) A man/woman of priorities and practices. (He/she believes that they MUST:)
Worship and serve God
Serve God in a local church
Grow in Godly character
Know and use their gifts (including every gift, like picking up chairs).
Trust God’s promises
Pray regularly
Study the Word
Develop a Biblical world view
Testify of God’s goodness to him/her in the gospel
Finish well
C) A future-focused disciple-MAKER
Able to evangelize and follow-up until the new disciple becomes a disciple-maker.
1. Missing out when we function as individual parts independent from others.
2. Missing out when we aren't serving in the role God called us to.
3. Missing out when we're missing whole parts of the body
1. What are some of your passions? What are some of your skills?
2. What are some of the needs that need to be filled at Forestgate?
3. What unique giftings might Forestgate possess that contributes to the health of the broader, global, body of Christ?