CWC Old Testament Lesson - Lent 4 - Kieth Bernard Kuschel
Isa 12:1-6
{1} In that day you will say: "I will praise you, O LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. {2} Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation." {3} With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. {4} In that day you will say: "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. {5} Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. {6} Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you."
Happy face.
What makes us happy?
Sad face.
What makes us sad?
When we are sad, who can make us happy?
How does He do that?
Should we try hard to be happy?
Why?
Who can you tell them about?
Happy face. Sad face.
JOYFUL JOURNEY AMIDST SIN & SORROW
I. Cause of Joy
A. Salvation
1. Sin causes God’s anger
2. Salvation = rescue from anger
3. Rescued to comfort from Lord
B. Salvation’s timing
1. Future - with Lord
2. Present - robbers of joy
3. Sickness - self-sufficient?
4. Financial - temporary
5. Death - with Lord
6. Relationship - purpose in life
II. Tool to reinforce joy
A. God brings Word
1. We need reinforcement
2. Sin - forgiven
3. Life bad - glory awaits
4. Temptation - kept by God
B. Wells of salvation
1. Failure to use = I don’t want
2. Blessings from - joy to use
III. Expression of Joy
A. Sing
1. Expression of happiness
2. Singing edifies
B. Shout aloud
1. Lives shout out
2. Puritans- no joy
3. Joy amidst problems
C. Make known
1. Want others to be happy
2. Good news gets shouted
Conc: Joy to know Jesus as Friend
IA1 The believer who is talking in the words before us today is very happy. Why? {2}“The Lord has become my salvation. Surely God is my salvation.” What does salvation mean? Rescue. From what is the believer rescued according to these verses? God's anger. What is the cause of God’s anger against humans? Sin. God created humans to be in total harmony with Him in what they thought and did. But humans rebelled and broke God’s law. When we do what comes naturally as humans, we produce selfish thoughts and actions. Those are sin. They break God’s law. They cause God’s anger.
2 God is right and just. He must punish violations of His law. The punishment He gives out for sin is death. Physical death & separation from Him and from His blessings. Cut off from His love. Outside of His family. It is from this punishment we deserve because of our sins that we are rescued. That is what salvation means. The quote is {1b} “Your anger has turned away”.
3 When someone is rescued, he is rescued from something. But, he is also rescued to something. That is true regarding salvation. Not only has Jesus taken our guilt on Himself. Not only did He remove our sins. Not only did He suffer the separation from God that we deserve because of our sins and thus rescued us from it. He also lived a perfectly holy life so that He might give us His righteousness. That makes us right with God. That means we can be members of God’s family. That means we can be His friends. That’s what we have been rescued to. The quote is {1c}“You have comforted me.”
B1 There is a future aspect to that rescue. We are going to be rescued by the Lord from physical death and taken to be with the Lord both body and soul for eternity. He has promised that our existence there will be joy-filled. No problems, sorrows or difficulties.
2 However, this rescue isn’t all tied to the future. We have a special relationship with God now that can bring joy into our lives now. We still have things which cause us fear and try to take away our joy. Sickness. Financial problems. Death of loved ones. Difficulties in human relationships. They all form a part of life which tries to steal our joy. But our relationship with God helps solve these parts of life which try to rob us of our joy. How does that work?
3 “The Lord is my strength. I will trust and not be afraid.” {2} Who else besides the Christian, besides us, can say, “Lord, I appreciate the lesson You are teaching me through this sickness. I was becoming quite self-sufficient. You have reminded me that I am not indestructible. You have given me some time to become closer to You. If this sickness is the way which You want me to die, thank You for giving me the opportunity to get ready.”
4 “The Lord is my strength. I will trust and not be afraid.” Who besides the Christian, besides us, can say, “Lord, I appreciate the lesson You are teaching me though these financial difficulties. Thank You for reminding me that the things of this life are passing, temporary and not dependable. I was getting much too involved in them. I am glad that although I might lose everything I own, I will never lose the forgiveness and eternal life that I have through Jesus.”
5 “The Lord is my strength. I will trust and not be afraid.” Who besides the Christian, besides us, can say, “Lord, it is going to be terrible to face life without him or her. But I know that he or she is with You. All her/his problems have been removed. Fullness of joy is his/hers in heaven. Thank You for providing that gift for him/her.”
6 “The Lord is my strength. I will trust and not be afraid.” Who besides the Christian, besides us, can say, “Lord, the people around me just keep using me. They just aren’t spiritual. But, my relationship with You reminds me that my purpose in life is to be a light for them. That purpose in my life makes me able to face tomorrow and face them.”
IIA1 Let’s be realistic. We are human. We don’t always react in a perfectly spiritual manner to the things that get us down. Then what? Does God abandon us to our difficulty? No. He comes to us and reinforces the reasons for our joy. How does He do that? By talking to us through His Word. He brings us the good news, the Gospel. That serves our spiritual lives as water revives and refreshes our bodies. The quote is: {3}“You will draw water from the wells of salvation.”
2 When we just can’t seem to overcome a particular sin. When we know what we are doing is not pleasing to God and have promised that we would get it out of our lives and haven’t. When we become depressed over our failure, Jesus comes to us and says, “Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven.” {Matt 9:2}
3 When everything we have experienced lately has turned out badly. When our job, our family, our health, and everything we can think of seem to be causing us major problems, the Lord comes to us and says, “When you realize what I have in store for you, don’t let these things get you down.” The quote is: “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be yours with me forever.” {Rom 8:18}
4 When everybody around you and every circumstance in which you find yourself seem to be attacking your faith. When your friends keep inviting you to sin with them. When your acquaintances ridicule your faith. When your own intellect says, “How can you believe that stuff.” When you become afraid that you will give in and lose your godliness and your faith, the Lord comes and says, “I will help preserve your faith by working in your heart through my Gospel.” The quote is: “You are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.” {1 Pet 1:5}
B1 Those are the blessings God wants to give from the wells of salvation. What should be our attitude toward the wells of salvation? The quote is {3}“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” How could our attitude be: “I don’t want the blessings of God. I don’t want forgiveness of sins. I don’t want confidence about eternity. I don’t want to be in the Lord’s family. I don’t want the strength to face the problems and difficulties of this life.” That is our attitude, that is what we are saying, when we fail to draw water from the wells of salvation. That’s what we are saying when we feel forced into studying the Word at worship and Bible study. That’s what we are saying when we fail to use the Word of God on a daily basis in our lives.
The quote is “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” How about this
attitude? “What wonderful opportunities the Lord is giving me. I can study a section of the Word of God in some detail for about 15 minutes, once a week, as my pastor leads me through the sermon. I can study the Word of God for an hour a week with my fellow Christians in one of our Bible classes. I have the privilege to listen to God talk to me through His Word in my home every day as I read my devotional books. What a joy it is to make use of all those different offerings from the Lord to reinforce His blessings in my life. What a chance to let Him keep the joy in my life. The quote is “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”
IIIA1 Joy is an abstract word. How do we express it? The quotes are:{2b} “The Lord is my song. {5}Sing to the Lord.” When a person breaks out into singing, how does he feel? Happy. When someone is humming or singing at work, what is he saying? “ I am satisfied with what I am doing.” After a day at work, what is the person saying who sings in the shower? “I did OK today.”
2 Our thanks to the Lord for His blessings of forgiveness and eternal life in Jesus the Christ often expresses itself in the same say - joyful singing. We sing together on Sunday mornings. That has two results. It lifts us up emotionally by getting us to realize the joy that belongs to everybody present. It also is a channel of our joy and a pointer to the source of and reasons for our joy to everybody present.
B1 Joy is an abstract word. How do we express it? The quote is: {6}“Shout aloud, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel.” When your favorite football, baseball or basketball team wins, how do we respond? We shout aloud. Why? We are happy. When we win the game we are playing, we shout aloud. Why? We are happy. Our lives as Christians shout aloud for joy because God has blessed us, because of what Jesus has done for us, & because we are the friends and family of the Lord.
2 Remember the Puritans from early American history? What color clothes did the men wear? Black. What color dresses did the women wear? Grey. What kind of expressions did they always have on their faces? Serious. Why? They believed that any outward expression of joy leads to sin. Does that fit with the verses before us today? No. Is life as bad as it appeared to be reflected on the faces of the Puritans? No. Do the blessings of the Lord give me a reason to smile, sing, and shout aloud? Yes.
3 But you say, “I have problems. I can’t be a happy- go-lucky person.” I didn’t say “happy-go-luck person.” I said, “Be joyful because of the blessings of God gives because of Jesus, in spite of the sin and sorrow that is a part of your life. Be joyful, knowing that God’s love in Christ is much greater than the problems.”
C1 Joy is an abstract word. How do we express it? The quote is:{4} “Make known among the nations what He has done. Proclaim that His name is exalted.” Joyful people don’t like to see other people unhappy. We know that there is only one way to be happy - to have Jesus Christ as our friend. In order for others to be happy, they have to be told about Jesus the Christ. That is why God has put us into the world. To help others be happy. To make known God’s salvation among the nations.
2 When something wonderful has happened, we shout it out. When we have very good news, we get so excited that we blab it all over. Something wonderful has happened. Jesus lived and died and rose so we might have forgiveness, righteousness and eternal life. We have good news. We shout it out. We bubble over with joy as we pass along the good news about Jesus to our friends. What a joy to know that Jesus is our friend, who is Lord without end.
Prayer: LORD Jesus, thank You for being my friend & Lord without end.