My Glory I Will Not Give To Another

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Group Question 1:

Talk about your testimony at your tables. You don’t have to share every last detail, but give one another a really brief 30 second explanation of your story and from 30,000 feet. Talk about how God saved you. If you’re here and aren’t a Christian, that’s totally ok! You’re a great place. You can definitely say that you’re just checking this Christianity thing out. We’d be glad to answer any questions you might have! So, at your tables, give one another a 30 second overview of your testimony. Take 5 minutes to do that.

Isaiah 48

We’re diving back into Isaiah tonight after taking a break to talk about Taking New Ground.

Read Isaiah 48

There is a lot here so we’re going to break it down in chunks

Isaiah 48: 1-10: The Stubbornness of God’s People

In this passage we get an up close and personal view of the stubbornness of God’s people.

Read the passage again with emphasis.

Group Question 2:

When is a time that you have been stubborn with God? When is a time you knew what you were supposed to do but didn’t? This could be before or after you became a Christian. How did God meet you in that?

In the stubbornness of His people God is right to be stern, but even in His sternness He gives His people glimpses of His grace. Think about the last half of verse 8.

Reflection on verse 8b

For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously, and that from before birth you were called a rebel."

Think about someone you have a really hard time getting along with. Think about someone that has deeply hurt you. Think about someone who has betrayed you or lost your trust. Maybe you can't stand them. Does the thought of them cause anger to well up inside you even now? Now imagine that you knew all of the awful things they would do to you before you ever met them. Imagine that you knew all of the ways they would hurt and betray you way before you ever saw them for the first time. Would you befriend them? Would you enter into relationship with them? Would you go out of your way to start a relationship with them? Of course not, right? Why would you ever do that? But yet that's exactly what God does for us.

The last half of verse 8 reminds us that God knew all of the ways we would dishonor Him, betray Him, lie to Him, sin against Him, rebel against Him, slander Him, and spit in His face before He ever created us. God didn't have to make us. He was perfectly happy in the communion of the Trinity before the world began. Yet, despite knowing that we would betray, sin, and rebel against Him before He created us, God still chose to give us life. He still chose to enter into relationship with us even though He knew all of our sins beforehand. and knowing all of our sins in advance God planned to save us and redeem us and make a way for us to be in relationship with Him in perfect joy despite the coming rebellion of our's that He knew would take place. That is grace upon grace! God is so much more good and gracious than we could possibly fathom! How much must He must love us to do that? God would pay any price and give anything up to get you back. He didn't want Heaven without you! He gave up the ultimate price by giving up His only begotten Son to save us. When you step back and look at it all, all of the glory goes to Him! Who else could get the credit! And none of it is selfish on God's part. His gets the glorious for the most selfless and loving act in the history of the universe. And we give Him all of the praise and glory for it, now and unto eternity!

No matter what you've done, it's not a surprise to God. Maybe there's a sin that you're struggling with right now. Maybe you keep on falling into it. Maybe there's something from your past that weighs you down in shame. Maybe you've never told anyone about it. Have you ever thought, "Because of that sin, Jesus could never love me"? Have you ever pulled back from God because of the shame you've felt? Maybe that's you right now. That voice you hear telling you that Jesus could never love you is a liar! No sin you have ever committed has ever taken Jesus by surprise. He knew every sin you would ever commit, every act of rebellion in your heart, and yet He chose to take every bit of your sin and put it on His shoulders and pay the full price for His. Don't draw away from Jesus at the very moment He paid the price for so you could draw near!

Isaiah 48: 9-11: The Glory of God’s Grace

Despite knowing all of your sin before you ever committed it, notice what God says in verses 9-11

“For my name's sake I defer my anger; for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another."

God restrains His anger. He has every right to punish us. It would be perfectly just. We deserve it. We can't understand the love of God in saving us until we understand that He would have been perfectly loving if He hadn't saved us!

God has every right to punish us and strike us down, but He didn’t. He sustained us and upheld us moment by moment, putting each new breath in our lungs that we might have yet another moment to seek Him and find Him. Yet in the end, what we see is that on our own we never would have sought God in our own right. Because of sin, our desires are bent towards bad things. Even seemingly good things can be turned to bad because we don’t do them for God’s glory. God saw our brokenness and steps in and does all of the work of drawing us to Him. The Bible speaks of God romances us and wooing us to Himself. When I look back on my salvation story and my Christian journey I can see so many ways that God has lovingly romanced me and drawn me to Himself through sermons, sunsets, conversations, songs, pain, friendships, and so much more. I fell in love with Him because He romanced me and drew me to Himself. And for that He gets all the glory.

Group Question 3:

Often times when we think of our salvation stories, in the moment it can feel like we’re doing all of the work, but when we step back and look back we see that it was actually God doing all the work. He is the one that set forth circumstances, conversations, invitations through friends, or whatever. As you look back on your salvation story, your testimony, how have you seen God’s fingerprints all over your journey? How has He drawn you to Himself so that He gets all of the glory? Talk about that at your tables.

Isaiah 48:12-13: God’s Plea for Perspective

Verses 13-14 serve as God's loving plea and reminder to His people that He is greater than anything they could ever put in His place. God is attempting to fix the order of their priorities and bring things back into a proper perspective.

Here's an illustration that might help demonstrate what God is doing here.

Did you all ever "run away" as kids? If you haven't I'm sure you know others who have. When I say run away I mean like when a child gets upset or angry, hastily packs some things into a little backpack and runs out the door with screams and yells, usually only to go a few houses down the street and return soon after. I remember doing this at like age 5. I can’t remember exactly what I was mad about but I think it had to do with being punished for something dumb and wrong I had done. I remember throwing stuff in a bag, not even stopping to grab food, and storming out of the door. I made it a whole 1 hour down the street before I was asking the neighbors to take me in. When I came back home my parents were rightly angry but they also provided words of love that helped bring things into proper perspective. They were justly stern with me, but they reminded me of the basic truths and reality of the situation to help me see that there was nowhere or no one else I should turn to but them. They reminded me that they brought me into the world, they loved with in word and deed in ways I didn't even know in my youth. My mom even gave up a promising medical career to be care for my sister and I. My parents had sacrificed for me in ways I couldn't even fathom at that age. They loved me more than anyone in the world. They fed me, sustained me, and did everything for me that I couldn't possibly do for myself. After hearing that, I could see the foolishness of what I had done in running away. I couldn't possibly adequately care for myself. I would perish without my parents. This plea and explanation from them put things in perspective and helped warm my heart back to them.

I think this is exactly what God is doing with His people here. He is reminding them that without Him, they are nothing. He is the only one who can truly sustain them, keep them alive, help them conquer their enemies in battle, and the one who loves them most. To run away from God is a death sentence because the people of Judah couldn't possibly make it on their own power. God is reminding them of the incredible resources He has to sustain them and reminding them who He is so that they would be drawn to return to Him. He wants them to see the foolishness of their ways while also seeing His deep love for them.

Group Question 4:

What truths of old has God declared to you that have grown stale or boring to you? Put another way, what truths about God have you heard for years that have become boring to you? Even if you haven't grown up in church I'd be willing to bet that you heard things about God in your past.

Isaiah 48:14-19

Notice in verse 17 God says that it is He, the Lord, that teaches His people to profit. He shows them the way to God.

When God gives a command or a word to His people, to us, He is not setting out to be a killjoy or to be tough or cruel. In fact, it’s quite the opposite! God created us and knows exactly what we need to flourish. Therefore, when God gives us a word or command He is not doing it for our detriment but for our joy and prosperity! How differently would we look at God’s commands if we say them as loving words to help us flourish rather than harsh words to make life difficult?

God even tells His people that if they would have would have obeyed Him earlier things would have been better for them. That’s just as true for us. Things will always be better if we obey God because when we obey Him we are following His words that are meant in love to help us flourish.

Every once in a while it’s worth reflecting on how things could have been different if we had of obeyed God at earlier points in our life. This exercise has been big for me. I can think of a number of times that I’ve disobeyed God and fall into sin. That sin has hurt me, others, and many times distanced me from God for a time. I look back with regret but it also serves as reminder of God’s amazing faithfulness and it serves as as an encouragement to follow God faithfully in the future.

Group Question 5:

What commands or words of God do you find it hardest to believe? How could God be intending those commands be for our flourishing and joy?

Isaiah 48:20-22: Proclaiming the Gospel with Joy

Think about God’s incredible grace even in our stubbornness and sin. Think about His amazing love and mercy in it all. How could we not tell the whole world about it? How could we not proclaim the greatness of God in joy?

We could proclaim verses 20-21 to the world from our own stories!

The Lord has redeemed us! God sustained us even in hard times and the desert seasons of life. He worked in incredible ways in our lives to care for us. He gave us life and performed wonders beyond our wildest dreams!

Have you ever actually shared the Gospel with someone? Who can you proclaim the Gospel to in joy this week?

Three Practical Takeaways

What is the main thing in your life that you keep going to for security and satisfaction?

Is it a relationship? A future job? The desire for relationship? Money? School? Comfort?

Whatever it is, try to pinpoint it this week. Think through practical steps how you can help put it in proper perspective. Those things may be good but they aren’t ultimate. What do you need to do to put God back at the center?

What truth about God are you struggling to believe this week?

It could be his goodness as you endure a hard circumstance.

It could be His justice as an injustice has been committed to you or you may see injustice as you look around the world.

It could be His love. You may feel unloved by God or others right now.

It could even be His presence. Maybe God has felt distant lately.

Pinpoint whatever that is. Then pray that God would help you see Him for who He really is so that through that you can put God back at the center or your life, your desires, and your affections.

Who are you going to proclaim the Gospel to with joy?

Who is the person you need to share your story with of God’s grace in your life? Who will you invite to Twenty-Somethings and/or church? Who did you write down on the pennants last week? Make it your goal to have a Gospel conversation with them this week or next time you see them.

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