THE BOOK OF ISAIAH The Lord is able to Help Those Who Trust Him Isaiah 50 SCC 12/1/13

THERE ARE NEVER CIRCUMSTANCES THAT __________________ GIVING UP ON GOD 1-3

Verse 1: There was no bill of divorcement--they still belonged to the LORD. There was no bill of sale--God never gave them up.  Rather, that wicked generation of Israelites sold themselves because of sin; and such sin the Lord could cancel by His grace.  But the nation was not cast off forever. 

Verse 2: When I came refers to the Lord's intervention to deliver them and when the Lord did this, there was no immediate response of ___________________--no man came…no one answered. This suggests that they were not convinced that the Lord could or would do this, and so were slow to get their hopes up. Is my hand shortened that it cannot redeem? The references are to miracles beginning with the Exodus.

Verse 3: The Lord was claiming sovereignty over the elements of nature to show that all power in heaven and on earth belonged to Him. So God was fully able to redeem His people with as great a deliverance as the Exodus.  God was fully willing to do this because He had not cast them off altogether, but had sent them into exile for their sins (purging the unbelievers for the land). 

SINCE GOD PROVIDED A ____________________ HE IS STILL CAPABLE OF DELIVERING US FROM OUR ______________________ 4-9

Jesus WAS FULLY EQUIPPED TO _____________________________ US 4-5

Verse 4: this servant says in order to teach God had equipped him with a trained faculty of speech, The z

Jesus ENDURED HIS __________________________ WITH HOPE THAT IT HAD PURPOSE 6-7

Verse 6: The Servant said He gave Himself over to this type of treatment. These descriptions picture persecution that Jesus Christ endured literally. "I gave my back to the smiters" starts the report. The image of a man being beaten, his beard plucked out, of being spat upon becomes literally true in Jesus Christ.

Verse 7: the Lord will help me means that the Lord did for the Servant what he could not do for himself.  The result of divine help was that he was not confounded, but set his face like a flint, indicating his determination was unflinching. 

Jesus SUFFERING AT HANDS OF ENEMIES WAS PROMISED _________________________ 8-9

Verses 8-9: Suffering was usually a sign of guilt, a condemnation.  But the Servant is convinced that by the deliverance from exile the Lord would justify him. The beginning of Jesus’ vindication was His resurrection. If the Lord will help me, then who condemns me?  Israel's oppressors: they shall grow old and wear out like garments. The end of those who falsely accused the Servant would be a slow but inevitable wasting away and disintegration rather than cataclysmic destruction.

SO ______________ ON GOD FEARING AND OBEYING HIM ALL OF YOUR LIFE 10-11

Verse 10: walk by faith in the Lord and find deliverance eventually. Here are those who fear the Lord and obey the voice of the Servant. To trust the name of the Lord is referring to God's attributes--what He is able to do.  The idea of trusting refers to total reliance on the Lord for everything we need.

Verse 11: The people and their actions described here are obviously antagonistic to the Lord and the true faith, and therefore to His people. The words of the Lord "This you shall have from my hand; you shall lie down in sorrow" is literally, a place of pain. "Lie down" means in the grave--they will die. 

So What?

1. Choosing sinful ______________________ to cope with your circumstances because you have lost hope is not an option for a faithful follower of Jesus Christ.

2. God is in the _________________ business. That is his specialty. He is fully capable of doing so in Jesus Christ both for our sins and eternal welfare, as well as our sins and our ____________________ well being.

3. We must not ____________________ the Lord but fear him and obey him with the understanding that we do not have any other _________________________ available in this life.