The Removal of Male Leaders (Isaiah 3:1-15)

Outline:

1. The problem: Childish, Immature Leaders (3:1-7).
2. The judgment: According To Your Deeds (3:8-11).
3. The indictment: Oppressing Others (3:12-15).

Leadership failure. 3:1-15 addresses the questionable character of leaders. It is closely related to 2:6-22 for Isaiah is addressing the people of "Judah and Jerusalem" (Isa 2:1). The leaders were proud. They trusted in their human accomplishments and in human security. Isaiah 2 emphasizes the demise of mankind in general, but Isaiah 3 considers the specific removal of the leaders (3:1-15) as well as the proud and vain women (3:16-4:1).

Random Questions on the Life of Abraham (Genesis 12-22)

Some questions for pondering and reflection:

1. What is your understanding of God calling a person (Gen 12:1)? What do you think is the affect on the life of one who has heard God's calling (Gen 12:2-4; Isa 6:5)?
2. What does the account of Abram and Lot in Genesis 13 teach about what can and cannot fulfill us human beings (Gen 13:10)?
3. How does one become right with God (Gen 15:6)? Is your righteousness credited or earned? What was God teaching Abraham in Genesis 15:9-16 (Jer 34:18-20)?
4. What is the problem with trying to have a child through Hagar instead of through Sarah (Gen 16:2; Gal 4:23)? Do you have a sense that God sees you (Gen 16:13; 1 Cor 8:3; Gal 4:9)?
5. How does God expect his chosen person to live (Gen 17:1; Lev 11:44, 45; 19:2; 1 Pet 1:15-16)?

Trust or Bust (Isaiah 7)

Isaiah 7:1-25; 9b, 14

"Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm" "All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means 'God is with us')" (Isa 7:9b, 14, NLT). [A Call for Faith and the Sign of Immanuel.]

1. Despite Your Failures, Let's Meet and Talk (Isaiah 1).
2. The Ideal and The Reality (Isaiah 2-4).
3. A Worthless Vineyard (Isaiah 5).
4. I Saw The Lord (Isaiah 6).

How is your faith? Isaiah 7 is a message that challenges our faith. Is our faith strong enough to see us through crises? Are we secure in our faith? If not, perhaps we do not fully understand the Word of the LORD or the confirming sign He has given.

Face and Fight Fright with Faith, not Fear or Flight (Psalm 11)

Psalm 11:1-7; 7

"For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; the upright will see his face" (Ps 11:7, NIV).

Psalm 11 expresses the confidence that the faithful have, even in a time of severe crisis. Two different "voices" were speaking to David ("flee in fear" or "fight with faith") in a context of personal or national crisis. David made up his mind to trust only in the Lord. The psalm is adaptable to a variety of desperate situations, showing how to face them in faith.

1. Flee in Fear (1-3).
2. Fight with Faith (4-7).

100 Pianos Tuned to the Same Fork

Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow.

So one hundred worshippers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become "unity" conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.

Social religion is perfected when private religion is purified. The body becomes stronger as its members become healthier. The whole Church of God gains...

Faith by AW Tozer, The Pursuit of God

Faith is the least self-regarding of the virtues. It is by its very nature scarcely conscious of its own existence.

Like the eye which sees everything in front of it and never sees itself, faith is occupied with the Object upon which it rests and pays no attention to itself at all. While we are looking at God we do not see ourselves--blessed riddance.

The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One. While he looks at Christ, the very things he has so long been trying to do will be getting done within him. It will be God working in him to will and to do.

Faith is NOT a Work that Possesses Merit or Worth

Belief (πιστεύω) and faith (πίστις) are key words in Romans. πιστεύω (248x in NT) occurs 21x in Romans, 7x in Rom 3:21-4:25, while πίστις (244X in NT) occurs 37x in Romans, 18x in Rom 3:21-4:25.

To "believe" is to put full trust in the God who "justifies the ungodly" (Rom 4:5) by means of the gospel--the cross and resurrection of Christ. Though intellectual assent cannot be excluded from faith, the Pauline emphasis is on surrender to God as an act of the will (Rom 4:18; 10:9).

Pauline (and NT) faith is not (primarily) agreement with a set of doctrines but trust in a person. Though not explicit in Rom 1:16, another focus of Romans is the insistence that faith is in no sense a "work" (Rom 3:20, 27-28; 4:1-8; 9:31-10:8).

Faith and Obedience

Faith is not obedience. Obedience is not faith. But faith and obedience always go together.

Obedience is a NT teaching. In the NT, the word translated "obedience" (ὑπακοή) occurs 15 times (Rom 1:5; 5:19; 6:16; 15:18; 16:19, 26; 2 Cor 10:6; Phm 1:21; Heb 5:8; 1 Pet 1:2, 14, 22). So, like it or not, it is a teaching of Paul and Peter. Interestingly, Jesus did not use this Pauline word, but he used the word translated "keep" (τηρέω), which means to observe, guard and attend carefully to his word and teaching (Jn 8:51; 14:15, 21, 23; 15:10, 20; 17:6).

Obedience and faith are linked together. Check out Romans 1:5 in five common English translations. The NIV says, "the obedience that comes from faith." The ESV, NASB and HCSB says, "the obedience of faith." The NLT says, "believe and obey." The Message says, "obedient trust." N.T. Wright's The Kingdom New Testament: A Contemporary Translation says, "believing obedience."

The Daniel Plan

Rick Warren's new book, The Daniel Plan, encourages healthy living based on the following essentials (Tim Challies' review.):

1. Faith (Phil 4:13).
2. Food (1 Cor 10:31).
3. Fitness (1 Cor 6:19a, 20b).
4. Focus (Rom 12:2).
5. Friends (Eccl 4:9).

I. FAITH

1. God Wants Us to Chew On His Word (Josh 1:8).
2. For Good Health, Confess Your Sin (Ps 32:3-5).

Faith (Deuteronomy 2 - 3); Theme of 14 chapters

Dt 2:1-329; Key Verse: Dt 2:7

"The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything."

Theme: Sin brings devastation (chap. 1), but faith expressed by obedience to God (chap. 2-3) brings blessing, success and victory.

The wages of sin. Chapter 1 recounts how sin caused the first generation of the people of God to be set back for 38 years until all of them died in the desert (Dt 2:14-15). Their sin was inexcusable, because they had personally experienced the power of God in delivering from slavery in Egypt (Dt 1:30-31).

What Are 6 Evidences That You Are A Christian (Luke 23:39-43)

How would you know whether or not you are a Christian? How can you help others know if they are Christians?

Based on the account of the criminal hung next to Jesus, we find 6 evidences that he became a Christian at the last possible moment by the work of the Holy Spirit.

1. He feared God. He said, "Don't you fear God?" (Luke 23:40) Fearing God is to honor God as God. Fearing God is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge (Prov 1:7, 9:10).
2. He had a sense of his sin before God. For the first time in his life, he did not blame others and took personal responsibility. He said, "We are being punished justly for we are getting what our deeds deserve" (Luke 23:41).
3. He saw God in sinless Jesus. He said, "...this man has done nothing wrong" (Luke 23:41). Death reveals what a man truly is, because he has no more reason to pretend. In his excruciating death, Jesus revealed his sinless perfection.
4. He saw Jesus as his Substitute, as his vicarious sacrifice (2 Cor 5:21). Though Jesus did nothing wrong, he was punished by God (for my sins).
5. He had (shameless) faith in Jesus. Though he committed horrible crimes deserving death, he believed in Jesus' power to save him, in spite of himself. He said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" (Luke 23:42). He understood that salvation was entirely undeserved, that it was by grace alone, by faith alone, and not by any good works (Eph 2:8,9; Gal 2:16).
6. He longed for paradise, the kingdom of God. According to his faith, Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43).

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Fear Not, For I Am Your God (Isaiah 41)

God Rules History (Isa 41:1-7)

God challenged the nations that refused to wait on him (Isa 40:31) to come before God (Isa 41:1). Cyrus the Great, leader of the rising Persian Empire, would soon conquer Babylon (Isa 44:24-45:7) and the nations in his way (Isa 41:2,3), thus revealing that God alone orders human history (Isa 41:4). But instead of turning to God, the nations turned to their created idols (Isa 41:5-7).

Fear Not (Isa 41:8-20)

Because of their sins, God's people stumbled in fear. So, God repeatedly said, "Fear not" (Isa 41:10,13,14). Their only basis to not fear is God's promise: "I am your God who has chosen and called you (Isa 41:8,9), and who is with you to strengthen you, help you and redeem you" (Isa 41:10,13,14). No one can defeat them (Isa 41:11,12,15,16). God himself will refresh them (Isa 41:17-20).

Stupid Idols (Isa 41:21-29)

Since idols are man-made, they are nothing and less than nothing (Isa 41:24), and nothing but a delusion (Isa 41:29). Yet man in his folly depends on his idols. God's challenge (Isa 41:1,21) is this: "How can you be so stupid to think that your idols can save you?"

Practical Application: Fear rules when we look around or look within. Faith grows when we look up at Him who rules history.

Simple Principle: "Fear not, for I am your God" (Isa 41:10).

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