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Isaiah 1:9 – God’s Small Remnant – Bible study

Isaiah 1:9 – God’s Small Remnant – Bible study

Isaiah 1.9 Gods Small Remnant The remnant means small remainder, that is which is left. In the Hebrew, it means survivor. Both of these definitions have to do only with the residue and the indication is that, by far, most of the remainder is now gone. The Hebrew Old Testament was translated into the Greek, call the Septuagint. The Septuagint was used in our Lords day in Israel and many of our New Testament writers quoted from it. In the Septuagint, the word is translated "seed." I like that thought. It implies not only is the remnant all of that which is left but it is also the beginning of what will come. When the Bible speaks of the remnant, I believe it always speaks of both the residue of what was but also the beginning of what will be. Tonight, what is the remnant? I. There are two kinds of remnant in the Bible. A. The national remnant and the spiritual remnant. B. A nation remnant in the Bible refers to the people of God that are left, typically Israel. C. A spiritual remnant in the Bible refers to the saved people of God that are left. II. Truths in common to both remnants. A. Anytime the word remnant is used, a judgment has occurred. 1. I mentioned the four days of mans history this morning. a. Evil Days b. Judgment Days c. Deliverance Days d. Continuing Days 2. Isaiah and Jeremiah were both written during Judgment Days. a. Isaiah was written as God judged the northern kingdom. b. Jeremiah was written as God judged the southern kingdom. c. Between those two books, the word remnant is used 34 out of the 91 times mentioned in the Bible. d. Why? Because once God finished His judgment, there would only be a small remnant of the existing population of Israel. e. That means a judgment is coming and only a small residue will remain. B. In creating a remnant, not only sinners but the righteous also suffer. 1. That is sad but a reality. 2. There is never a judgment that does not effect the innocent, the pure, and the godly. 3. We can see that on the national level. a. I remember when AIDS first came on the scene. b. Many preachers, including myself, said it was a judgment of God. c. Then the world began to ridicule us and say, "So God is judging the new born whose mother had AIDS or the innocent child who got it from a blood transfusion?" d. Many Christians backed down and said, "Well, no. I guess not." e. That is the wrong answer. AIDS is a judgment from God upon the homosexual, and yes, sad to say, as that judgment runs its course, innocent people to get it. f. The innocent always suffer in judgment. Thats part of the awfulness of judgment, part of the reason we should not want the judgment of God to fall. For people who do not deserve it will certainly be hurt. g. Do we think as we stir up fleshly desires with pornographic materials, lewd movies, and immodest dress that only the ones who watch that stuff will be hurt by it? NO. We know that our daughters and sons could be hurt too. (Thats why we object to Target creating a place inside of a store where that can of wickedness can be done!) 4. We can see that on the spiritual level too. 1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? a. Let us not think that when God begins to judge the evil of the world that He will overlook His own for that is not Gods way. b. Gods way is to hold His own to a higher level of accountability than anyone else. III. Truths are only true of the spiritual remnant. A. It is the spiritual remnant that holds back Gods total destruction. 1. \#Ge 19:21\ The angel told Lot that he could not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah until they were completely out of the area. 2. \#Matt 24:22\ Jesus said the days of the tribulation would be shortened for the sake of the elect. 3. \#Rev 7:3\ God held back the four winds of destruction until all the servants of God could be marked. 4. But then there is Gods own words through the Apostle Paul. 1Th 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 5. Destruction will come, war, plague, death, and suffering beyond comprehension, but God always shows mercy to all for the sake of the elect. a. That truth is one reason why I believe the church will NOT go through the tribulation. b. Others who are saved during the tribulation will endure it for they missed the tribulation, but God will take the saved out before the tribulation begins. B. It is the spiritual remnant that God will use for His glory. 1. God likes to use the spiritual remnant. a. \#Judges 7:1-2\ Gideon had 32,000 men to fight an army that could not be numbered, but God said that was too many. b. \#Judges 7:3\ God had Gideon send the fearful home and twenty-two thousand left! 10,000 remained and God said there were still too many. c. \#Judges 7:4-7\ God had Gideon take them to the brook to drink water and kept only the 300 that raised their hands to their mouths to drink. d. But God used those 300 men to do great things. 2. At one time, the crowds that followed Jesus were in the tens of thousands, but only 120 made it to the upper room to pray and wait on the Holy Ghost. 3. There were many in the church of Jerusalem and Antioch, but called a few to be missionaries and evangelists, and with that remnant, God rocked the world for Jesus Christ. C. The spiritual remnant is an ever decreasing size. 1. That is pictured in the national remnant of Israel. a. In Jeremiahs day, there were two remnants after Babylon destroyed the nation. (1) \#Jer 39:9\ Speaks of the remnant that when with Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon as captives. (2) \#Jer 40:11, 15, 16\ through chapter 44, was the remnant left in the land. b. Jeremiah was left with those in the land. (1) They came to Jeremiah and begged him to beseech God for them. At first, Jeremiah refused, thinking they would not obey whatever word he brought them, but they pledged that they would. (2) Eventually, Jeremiah believed them and sought God. When he came back, he knew that would NOT obey because the Lord told him so, but he delivered Gods Word to them anyway. (3) Sure enough. They would not obey it. They fled to Egypt seeking asylum from Babylon, only to have Babylon come conquer Egypt and kill them in the process. c. Even of the remnant that went to Babylon, only a small number of that returned to repopulate Israel at the end of the 70 years of captivity. 2. This is more true of the spiritual remnant. a. In this mornings text, \#Luke 18:8\ Jesus asked when He returned to set up His kingdom, would He find any faith, that is, would he find many who still believed? The fact that Jesus even asked such a question indicates that there will not be many! b. The saved and right with God seek Him for awhile, but the more they grow numerically, the more tares fill the field until God eventually must send a judgment and start over. c. I believe this church is a remnant of the type of churches that existed years ago, but even inside this church tares grow which will work like Paul warned: Acts 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. 3. Our text speaks of a very small remnant. At it were, a remnant of the remnant. a. It was the remnant of the remnant that returned from Babylon. b. It was only a remnant of the remnant that followed Jesus through the streets of Jerusalem to Golgotha. c. It was only a remnant of the remnant that gathered at the tomb on that first Sunday morning. d. It was only a remnant of the remnant that gathered in the upper room on Pentecost. I want to be part of that small remnant! I want to go with Jesus to the cross, to the tomb, and to the resurrection!