•Isaiah 51:17-52:12
•Awaken from Slumber
17 Wake yourself, wake yourself,
stand up, O Jerusalem,
you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD
the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs
the bowl, the cup of staggering.
18 There is none to guide her
among all the sons she has borne;
there is none to take her by the hand
among all the sons she has brought up.
19 These two things have happened to you—
who will console you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
who will comfort you?
20 Your sons have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street
like an antelope in a net;
they are full of the wrath of the LORD,
the rebuke of your God.
21 Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted,
who are drunk, but not with wine:
22 Thus says your Lord, the LORD,
your God who pleads the cause of his people:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering;
the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;
23 and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
who have said to you,
‘Bow down, that we may pass over’;
and you have made your back like the ground
and like the street for them to pass over.”
(Isaiah 51:17-23, ESV)
1 Awake, awake,
put on your strength, O Zion;
put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city;
for there shall no more come into you
the uncircumcised and the unclean.
2 Shake yourself from the dust and arise;
be seated, O Jerusalem;
loose the bonds from your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.
3 For thus says the LORD: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.”
4 For thus says the Lord GOD: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing.
5 Now therefore what have I here,” declares the LORD, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares the LORD, “and continually all the day my name is despised.
6 Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”
(Isaiah 52:1-6, ESV)
7 How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
8 The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice;
together they sing for joy;
for eye to eye they see
the return of the LORD to Zion.
9 Break forth together into singing,
you waste places of Jerusalem,
for the LORD has comforted his people;
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The LORD has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.
11 Depart, depart, go out from there;
touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves,
you who bear the vessels of the LORD.
12 For you shall not go out in haste,
and you shall not go in flight,
for the LORD will go before you,
and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
(Isaiah 52:7-12, ESV)
•Main Point
• These describe the situation with God’s people
• It is they who need to awake from their slumber
• They willingly take judgment
• God will not let judgment be the last word
• He will provide for them salvation
• It will not be a salvation won by their hands
• They can rejoice in their God who has revealed Himself to them
Application Points
• Awaken from Slumber
• We are reminded we have a responsibility to awake and respond to God
• Even a physical reality can give us a glimpse into why and how God acts in other ways
• Why does God redeem the people?
• He loves the people
• Yet this is not enough
• Through their disobedience and faithlessness they continue to grab the cup and continue to…drain it completely
• In this sense, they are unworthy of salvation
Application Points
• Awaken from Slumber (2)
• Even if God loves them it is not enough because their choices and refusal to change
• What is the reason? For His Name
• First and foremost for His glory
• He alone is worthy of acting for Himself and fulfilling His purposes
• If we know God we know this is not conceited
• God is the greatest conceivable Being
• He is the greatest conceivable good
• We are tainted, He alone is untainted
Application Points
• Awaken from Slumber (3)
• By acting first for His own Name it allows us to know His Name
• We can know the greatest conceivable Being because He has revealed Himself by acting for Himself
• This leads to good things for us
• This, then, has the repercussions for us we find in today’s text
• It means we can know and be known, and it means we can awaken from our slumber
• If God has redeemed…then it will by definition lead us to respond
Application Points
• Awaken from Slumber (4)
• What does such an awakening look like?
• We would listen
• If the bonds which were hindering us and causing us harm have been broken, then the responsibility we have is to remove the broken chains
• Sinfulness is what hinders us
• By seeking our own sinful desires it leads to destruction
• We hear the words of the Servant when He says…
19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”
(Matthew 15:19-20, ESV)
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
(I Corinthians 6:9-11, ESV)
Application Points
• Awaken from Slumber (5)
• The defilement leads to destruction, to death, to being away from God
• If God has redeemed then we can rise up out of these instincts and this brokenness, this long night of sleep
• If God has done this…then we can live in a way which his altogether separate
• He gives us the means, His arm to hold
• This first way we respond, then, is repentance away from sin and bondage, by not acting in certain ways
• The second way is by living in a way which reflects the goodness of God
• We can only do this because God has first acted in the world
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
(John 15:1-11, ESV)
7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
(John 16:7-15, ESV)
“22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
(Galatians 5:22-24, ESV)
Application Points
• Awaken from Slumber (5)
• Thus we are not only able to turn away from the bad, but also to live and act in goodness
• It is only because of God this is possible
• This then leads to the third response…to praise God for what He has done
• How else should we respond other than rejoicing in the One who has redeemed and given us such freedom?
• We find all these things to be good, and that this God alone is able to provide us such a solid foundation
• God has done great things
• He alone is worthy of such adoration and praise
• Let us not fail to awaken from slumber, and rise to the sound of His voice
Application Points
• The Gospel of Christ
• Origins
• Fall
• Redemption
• Glorification
