More Than a Conqueror

WINTER QUARTER SUNDAY SCHOOL 2010-2011

THEME: THE ASSURANCE OF HOPE BY OUR AWESOME GOD

UNIT ONE: HOPE FROM PAST SINS

“THE ASSURANCE OF GOD’S AWESOME PRESENCE”

isaiah

Sunday School Lesson No. IV
December 26, 2010

Presented by Rev. Frank Davis, III Pastor-Teacher

Lesson Text: Isaiah 43:1-7, 11-12

Required Reading: Isaiah 43:1-28

Motto Text: Isaiah 43:2, “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”

Reliable Resources: Logos Bible Software;

Union Gospel Press Expositor and Illuminator; Standard Lesson Commentary; Precepts in Living (UMI Publishing); Visualized Bible Notes (Tyndale/Wilmington); Be Comforted (Dr. Warren Wiersbe)

INTRODUCTION

Beloved, have you ever thought of how much God really cares for you? What has He sacrificed on your behalf? And above all, what kind of real return does He profit from us? In short, we gain the more out of our relationship with God! He gives the more to be in relationship with us; in fact, God is always giving and giving and giving!

This week we will examine the very giving nature of God to His less than appreciative people of history, the nation of Israel. God gives them great assurance, even though He must give them the wages of their disobedience. Continuing our teaching from Isaiah’s prophecy, captivity is in the very near future of Israel in the historical context of the lesson. They would fall under the hand of Babylon and go into 70 years of captivity. Their homeland would appear to fall into disarray, but Jehovah gives them His blessed assurance that in spite of very difficult days, their plight would never disappear from His immediate sight! His awesome presence would continually be with them and He would never forsake them!

Anticipated Power Points:

·  The Assurance of His Presence and Protection. Isaiah 43:1-2

·  The Assurance of His Precious Preference. Isaiah 43:3-4

·  The Assurance of His Perpetual Promises. Isaiah 43:5-7

·  The Assurance of His Personal Participation. Isaiah 43:11-12

LESSON OUTLINE EXPOSITION

I. The Assurance of His Presence and Protection. Isaiah 43:1-2

There is nothing more assuring than young children playing in the presence of their parents. They can get very involved in their activities, but from time to time, the child just looks up to see the presence of their parents, which offers the assurance of pro- tection.

Isaiah’s prophecy to Israel is the great blessing of God’s presence and awesome protection. Sin had driven a wedge between God and Israel, and He had already chastised the northern kingdom with Assyria. But now after around 100 years, the southern kingdom of Judah had seemingly forgotten the lessons of their northern brothers. God was giving them a word that He would send them under the bondage of the Babylonians in order to fulfill His righteous order (surmised in the first 39 chapters of Isaiah), but in spite of the prophecy of judgment in captivity, God assures His people that He would be present and protect them from total annihilation. His loving commitment to Abraham’s descendants is without change, as we read in Malachi 3:6: “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” Note His Assuring Presence and Protection…

A. He reassures them because of the past. vs. 1a

He made or created Israel and He was shaping them for His service.

B. He reassures them of His powerful presence. vs. 1b

Because of His presence there was no need for fear! God had redeemed or purchased them and they were His exclusive property! (Read Psalm 118:6)

C. He reassures His covenant people that in spite of the calamities they would face, they need only remember that He was with them in the past and so would He see them through the future as a nation. (Read Exodus 14; Joshua 3 and Daniel 3). Water, rivers, floods and fires are no problem for Jehovah.

II. The Assurance of His Precious Preference. Isaiah 43:3-4

As we have learned from Paul in Ephesians 2:8-9, everything God does for His people is of grace and nothing is of personal merit. God chose Israel as we find in Deuteronomy 7:6-8: “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” Remember, as Israel was chosen of grace, so are you and I who are Christians today! I can- not explain why one nation is chosen over another, but God is sovereign and has that right, yet He is more than fair to give all an opportunity to respect and know Him! Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we

were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

III. The Assurance of His Perpetual Promises. Isaiah 43:5-7

Now Isaiah assures the nation of Israel that God’s promises are perpetual. Jeremiah calls them mercies that never fail in La- mentations 3:22-23, “It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” I sum them up in a few phrases:

A. Verse 5, “Fear not” – Why? Because God’s presence was with His people 24/7 and in every place, even in the bondage of the enemy!

B. Verse 6, “I will” – is another phrase that speaks volumes concerning God’s perpetual promises. “I will bring my people back home from east, west, north and south.” (Read Jeremiah 30:10-11). The return of Israel to their homeland will come to past. Not only is this historical to us, but it is also prophetic. (Read Ezra 1:1-11 and Jeremiah 31:3-14).

C. Verse 7, “I have” – Jeremiah makes it crystal clear that the nation was created and shaped for one main purpose…to bring glory and honor to His Name! So the promises of Jehovah are perpetual and would all come to pass concerning Israel’s fu- ture. (Note: Though God loves and will deliver Israel as a nation, it will not be without the discipline of His love. (Read Hebrews 12:5-6).

IV. The Assurance of His Personal Participation. Isaiah 43:11-12

A. The Lord assures Israel of His personal participation with them in everything. Note He says, “I am the Lord,” the only

Saviour. Israel was not to look at any other gods! vs. 11

B. He also reminds them of His track record in their history that would demonstrate their longevity! vs. 12

CLOSING

Beloved, as we close, let us remember the Awesome Assurance of God’s Presence. Israel’s history demonstrates it and Paul reminds us that it is all for the learning of the Church of God! Remember I Corinthians 10:11-12, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

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Looking Ahead: January 2, 1011 Isaiah 44:21-26