This Week's Sunday School Lesson, "Hope, The Good News To Remember" 11/30/2014

 

 

HOPE, THE GOOD NEWS TO BE REMEMBERED

 

Isaiah 52:1-2, 7-12

 

V:52. " Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength. Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again."

 A. The word "Awake" means open your eyes.

      1. Believers should always be alert.

      2. We can not experience the glory of God, if we are not in tuned to His Word.

 B. To clothe ourselves in the strength of the Lord, we must put on the full armor

      of God.

      1. We need protection from the world we live in.

      2. We are under attack all day long.

      3. Satan and his demons never rest in their effort to steal, kill and destroy.

      4. " Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's

             schemes."   Eph 6:11-17

 C. It is obedience to the Word of God that cleans us up.  John 15:3

     1. When we accept Christ as our personal Savior, the clean up process begins.

     2. When we walk according to the Word of God, we put on garments of splendor.

 

V:2. " Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem. Free yourself from the  

  chains on your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion. "

  A. The common way of sitting in ancient Israel was on the floor with legs crossed.

      1. Before our relationship with Christ, we were all sitting in the dust of life.

      2. Dust is nothing and we are nothing without Christ.

      3. We must remember that God created Adam from the dust of the earth.

      4. God can take our dusty souls and redeem them to eternal life.

  B. Even though we have been redeemed, we still walk in the dust of life.

      1. When we humble ourselves before the Lord, He will lift us up.

      2. We must continuously make efforts to shake off the dust of life.

          a. We must shake off the sins in our lives.

          b. We make shake off the lust of life.

          c. We must shake off the envy of life.

          d. We must shake off the hates in our lives.

          e. We must shake off unselfishness.

    C.  We must rise up, shake the dust and take on the righteousness of God.

         1. We must present ourselves as a living sacrifice to God.

         2. We must continuously take on an unselfish attitude.

         3. We must put God first in all our decisions and activities.

         4. It is the Lord who lifts us up and sets us on a higher plain near Him.

    D. Sin is the chain that binds us to this world.

        1. The more we satisfy the flesh, the more we are chained to our old self.

        2. We must seek the righteousness of God to break the chains that bind us.

 

 

Isaiah 52:7-12

V:7. " How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"

A. It was the angel Gabriel who brought the good news to Zachariah that he and his wife  

     in their old age, would have a baby. (John the Baptist)

  1. It was the angel Gabriel that brought the good news to Mary, a virgin, that she was

      selected to be the mother of the long awaited Messiah.

  2. It was a host of angels from the Lord that brought the good news to the shepherds in

       the night that the Savior had been born in Bethlehem.

B. Everyone needs to hear a good Word from the Lord.

  1. The world is filled with bad news.

  2. We get bad news from the news media, the internet, face book and twitter.

  3. The world focuses on the bad when there is more good around.

  4. You can only find eternal hope in the word of God.

  5. We should make it our business to encourage others.   

 C. The death of the Lord on the cross made it possible for all to inherit eternal life.

   1. Jesus gave us the great commission to proclaim the Gospel to everyone we meet.

   2. It is the attitude of blessing others with words of encouragement in the Lord

       that draws us closer.   

 

 V:8. " Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy. When the

   Lord returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes."

  A. A watchman was normally posted on a tower as the lookout for approaching 

       enemies.

       1. Jesus is not our enemy, He is our friend. He will return to take the church

           to be with Him in heaven.  John 14:3

       2. All believers should be ready and prepared for the second coming of Jesus.

       3. Our objective is not life in this world but Heaven with the Lord.

       4. We should travel the road of life, shouting the joy of the Lord.  

  B. The Lord will come again in a cloud with power and glory and all men will see Him.

        Luke 21:27

       1. Jesus will drop down from heaven with the arch angel.

           a. There will be a great shout after which the arch angel will  blow his horn.

               The dead in Christ will rise and then those still living will be called to heaven.

           b. The word "shout" means a cry of excitement.  1 Thess 4:16

       2. Not only will believers be excited at the Lord's return, but the angels in heaven

           will rejoice.

       3. Heaven is in our mist.

            a, We have the Word and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

            b. Life on this earth is but a short period, therefore we  should be rejoicing now.

 

V:9. " Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem."

A. When the Lord returns, It will not be a private party.

       1. All believers will rejoice when the Lord comes again.

       2. When we think about the goodness of the Lord, we ought to rejoice.

          a. He took us out of the ruins of life.

          b. He redeemed us from our sins.

          c. He comforts us with love.

 B. Through the death of Jesus Christ, we were adopted into the family of Israel.

      1. We have a home in the new Jerusalem where Jesus will reign.  Gal 4:5

      2.  We are the redeemed of God and we should be ready to say so.  Psalms 107:2

 

 V:10. " The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the

  ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God."

 A. The Lord's Holy Arm is our deliverer.

     1. He delivered us from our sins.

     2 He delivers us from the troubles of the world.

     3. He delivers us from the evil of this world.

     4. He delivers us in times of sickness..

     5. He delivers us from financial problems.

     6. He delivers us from the sorrows of life.

 B. What the Lord does for us, is in the sight of the world.

     1. Since the Lord delivers us in the sight of the world, we should praise Him in

        the sight of the world.

     2. If we deny Jesus before the world, He will deny us before the Father in heaven

         2 Tim 2:12

 

 V:11. " Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the vessels of the Lord."

 A. When the Lord released the Israelites out of Babylonian Captivity,  they were to leave

      without taking any of the Babylonian unclean habits.

     1. God has released us from the captivity of  sin .

         a. We are commanded to leave our old sinful habits and take on the righteous of

             God.

         b.  Any man in Christ is a new creation.

         b. We were buried in the death of Jesus and resurrected into a new life with Jesus.

 

 V:12. " But you will not leave in haste or go in flight; for the Lord will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard. "

A. God is our guide.

    1. Because we are in Christ, we must submit ourselves to the will of the Father.

    2. It is easy to follow our old ways.

    3. It takes a change in our hearts to follow Christ.

 B. God is our security.

     1. When we make up our minds to follow God, he encamps His angels around us.

     2. No weapon formed against us can prosper.

 

Rev M. Mitchell, Asst Pastor of GMBC