Isaiah 51:1-8 “Listen to Me”

<p>Pastor Andy reads Isaiah 51:1-8, a three-stanza poem written for a people in exile surrounded by ruins, stripped of hope, in a strange place with no way back to normal. Three times the Lord opens each stanza the same way: Listen to Me. He points to Abraham and Sarah, two people dead in their reproductive ability, as proof that God specializes in making something out of nothing. Pastor Andy then draws four applications: God's faithfulness to Israel guarantees His faithfulness to us; if the consequences of your own bad decisions have come home to roost, this is for you; if you're suffering because of somebody else's sin, vengeance belongs to God, let Him do it; and for all of us, God is calling us back to the simplest thing, a relationship where we listen when He talks. The message closes in Isaiah 55 with one final invitation, "Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance."</p><p><br></p><p>Exact Scripture References</p><p>Isaiah 51:1-8</p><p>Isaiah 55:1-3</p><p>Jeremiah 31:33</p><p>1 Peter 2:9</p><p>Romans 9-11</p><p>Acts 9:4</p><p><br></p><p>Topics and Keywords</p><p>Isaiah 51-57 as the Book of the Servant</p><p>The three-stanza structure of Isaiah 51:1-8 — Listen, Look, For</p><p>The moment when the vision is dead — Joseph, David, Esther, the disciples</p><p>The rock and the quarry — Abraham and Sarah</p><p>God making dead things alive</p><p>Christians grafted into Abraham's promise by faith</p><p>God's faithfulness to Israel as a guarantee of His faithfulness to us</p><p>When the consequences of your own bad decisions have come home</p><p>Suffering because of somebody else's sin</p><p>Vengeance belongs to God — let Him do it</p><p>The nature of the relationship God wants — where He talks and we listen</p><p>Isaiah 55 — come to the waters, listen and your soul shall live</p><p>Forgiveness as the only way out of bitterness and resentment</p><p>Surrender and submit your life to Jesus Christ</p>