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Q4. (Isaiah 38:3) Q1. What is the basis on which Hezekiah asks for healing? From God's response through Isaiah we get some hints to the reasons why God seems to have responded to Hezekiah's prayer, though we can't read God's mind: Hezekiah prayed. If he hadn't asked, God would have continued with the plan announced by Isaiah -- an early death. James says, "You do not have, because you do not ask God...." (James 4:2b). Promises made to David centuries before. The Lord identifies himself as "the God of your father David" (38:4) and says he will defend the city "for the sake of my servant David" (2 Kings 20:6). Respect for Hezekiah's leadership role. "Hezekiah, the leader of my people" (2 Kings 20:5a). Concern for Jerusalem's welfare. "I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city...." (38:6). Honor for Hezekiah's upright life. "I have heard your prayer," indicates that he has heard Hezekiah's implied prayer and honored the basis on which he made it, an upright life. Love for Hezekiah. "I have heard your prayer and seen your tears" (38:4). Hezekiah loves God and God loves Hezekiah. The Father has seen his child's tears and responded. Q2. Why is personal righteousness and holiness important in getting your prayers answered? God’s ear is particularly open to his children who seek to be obedient to him. I must try and make an honest attempt to follow God in my life and repent when I am convicted of my sin. God will honor this with blessing, success, and answered prayer. Q3. How can unrighteousness prevent answered prayer if all gifts from God are by grace anyway? All God's gifts are by grace -- his own favor towards us, which is neither earned nor deserved. But God does honor the prayers of the upright over those of the backslidden. James teaches us: "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16b).

Q3. (Isaiah 38:2-3) Q1. Why is Hezekiah's healing important for his nation? It is likely that he had no clear successor at that point. If this took place in 701 BC, it was before his son Manasseh was born. Hezekiah would have needed to name a successor so leadership would pass to another at his death without palace intrigues and unnecessary disruption to the kingdom. Q2. How did it relate to God's promises made to David (2 Samuel 7:11b-16)? Q2. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever." (2 Samuel 7:14-16) God promised an unbroken line of David's sons upon the throne. Hezekiah is also appealing to God's promises for offspring and for a long life to those who walk uprightly before him:

Q2. (Isaiah 37:16) Q1. How do the first two sentences of Hezekiah's prayer (verse 16) correspond to the first sentence of the Lord's Prayer? Q1." O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, This corresponds to the magnificent opening of the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name." Hezekiah begins his prayer with an awesome vision of who God really is. Q2. How are they important to faith? "LORD" is the Hebrew personal, specific name of God. Hezekiah calls his God by name. Hezekiah is a monotheist, a believer in one God. And he asserts that God's reign extends over and encompasses every human kingdom on earth, including the Assyrian empire. Hezekiah sees no limitation to God's power, since he made heaven and earth and can control anything within them. Q3. How are they important to God answering the prayer? "Deliver us from his hand!" The basis of Hezekiah's appeal is that God be seen by the nations as the only true God. When offer no resistance to the relationship with God, we can receive gracefully; making it easier to have prayers answered.

Q1. (Isaiah 37:14) Q1. What is the significance of Hezekiah spreading out the enemy's message before the Lord? He reads it to God and observes that the insult is to the living God far more than it is to Hezekiah himself. God himself has been insulted, and he must respond. Q2. What is the underlying principle illustrated here? The principle is: The battle is the Lord's!" This is not an excuse to do nothing. Hezekiah has made all the military preparations he can, but now is the time to look to the Lord. Consider: Q3. How can we apply this principle to our own lives? But when we actually believe that the battle is the Lord's to fight, then we let him be the general and just follow his orders. Yes, we're under the stress of battle, but not the stress of trying to play God. Q4. What happens when we don't apply this principle? Think of the pressure we take upon ourselves when we try to be the general in God's battles. We get discouraged. We give up. We fold our tents and go home. We can't handle it.

Q6. (Isaiah 35:1-10) Q1. How do you think these verses brought hope to their first readers? Now the New Jerusalem and its king; In that day there will be no merely human king; New Jerusalem will be a place of wealth, of healing, and of forgiveness. Q2. What is promised here? Psalm of hope to those who had almost lost hope. Salvation has come and the desert has been transformed by Life! It is a spiritual place for those who love the Lord. Q3. Why do you think Isaiah relies on heavily figurative language to communicate these promises? Paints a beautiful picture in ones mind and creates a desire to experience it bringing hope. Q4. How does he describe the "highway of holiness"? "8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. 9 No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, 10 and the ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away." (35:8-10) Q5. Who will walk on it? The ones who walk in the way of the Lord.; Only the redeemed, the ransomed of the Lord. Q6. Who won't? The unclean; wicked fools; Q7. What does it mean to be redeemed and ransomed? Redeemed" passive participle (= verb acting also a adjective) describing those who have been bought back by the kinsman-redeemer, who is responsible to pay for the release of family members who have been sold into slavery to pay their debts. The kinsman-redeemer frees them. " Jesus is our Kinsman-Redeemer who paid the price for our redemption, "the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect" (1 Peter 1:18-19). Ransomed of the Lord" means "ransomed by the Lord." - "ransom, rescue, deliver."

Q5. (Isaiah 33:14-16) Q1. How does ethical behavior display love for God? A display of ethical behavior shows a reflection, an image created in the likeness of God; a desire to align my will with God’s – creating love for God. …where the noble once again are honored and fools are no longer respected. "Who can stand this consuming fire?" (33:14). The answer sounds much like Psalm 24:3-4 "He who has clean hands and a pure heart" -- the person who fears the Lord. Q2.How does it display love for man? Displaying effort, humility and sacrifice without expecting anything in return. God does the work. Q3. How does the corruption of taking bribes destroy righteous government? Corruption and taking bribes with take the shady individual deeper into the darkness of self-will-run riot. Separating himself from God and his followers. Trying to do right….He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure."

Q4. (Isaiah 31:1) Q1. Why do we tend to seek help from every source except the Lord? I tend to trust the ways of the world; that is where I think I can find relief. I want my comforts more than I want the truth. Q2. In what way is this similar to idolatry? Whatever I put my attention to expands and can become more important that God. (I shall not want) Q3. People haven't changed. Jesus recognized this tendency. What was the remedy he taught his disciples in Matthew 6:31-33? But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (what to eat, drink, wear..)

Q3. (Isaiah 30:15-29) Q1. Why does God long to show us grace (30:18)? he rises to show me compassion; for the LORD is a God of justice, blessed are all who wait for him!...He empowers; I will mount up as if on wings of eagle. Q2. What does that say about God's character? Beyond full understanding – He will hear my cry for help still his grace allows me to see my teachers. Q3. What prevents his grace? My own resistance, self-centeredness. Discipline means properly taught; my lack of discipline lets my pride sneak in like a thief. Q4. Have you ever experienced the kind of guidance Isaiah mentions in verse 21? Yes, Experiencing human being not a human doing. When walking in Love and not in hostility and fear. Q5. What is necessary in us so that we can hear God's voice? When I am mindful and have abandoned myself to God.

Q2. (Isaiah 29:13) Q1.Have you ever seen a religious person go through all the religious motions, but whose heart is far from God? Pseudo Aposilyptic Christian; one addicted to the “religion” and not walking the walk. A great danger of religious people -- like you and me -- is that we tend to so institutionalize and systematize our religion that we no longer seek the Lord himself, but instead hold a cold orthodoxy. Q2. How can we detect this in ourselves if it applies to us? I get into fix, manage and control lead by pride. Too often, our precious doctrines are not the teaching of scripture, but dogmatic interpretations -- "rules taught by men." Our hearts can be far from the Lord while we practice our religion with great fervor.(Jeremiah 17:9) Q3. What is the remedy? Faith in God; trust God; the Lord will come with his great wind and the enemies will disappear like blown chaff (28:2-6). When his people awake, their enemies will seem like only a bad dream. They will be gone (28:7-8). Again and again, Jesus taught his disciples humility! Q4. How can you tell if your practice of religion is merely following "rules taught by men"? My Heart is far from the Lord while I practice religion without faith. The fruits of the spirit become less. Q5. What is the danger of a rule-based faith? Rule based doesn’t teach scripture. Faith without works is dead. Q6. How does it differ from a love-based faith? Humility vs. pride. Source-based and not self-based. Altruistism – if faith without works is dead then willingness without action Is fantasy.

Q1.How are we humans able to justify and deceive ourselves so easily? Not trusting in God, Trusting in Self Knowledge. Selfishness & Self-centered, not God-centered. Q2.Why do we hold onto lies that guide our lives? False beliefs like to hold people in bondage -- and they cannot free themselves. – Self cannot fix self, I have to have God’s Help. Q3. Why do people stumble over Christ, the tested foundation stone, and his righteous standards? Some of us haven’t gotten the entire message yet and the foundation of sand may have not produced enough pain for the contrite heart to allow me to abandon myself totally to God. The cornerstone may not be set properly, as of yet. Q4. How can we help people come to the truth? By Example and sharing for confession and witness. Owning my errors, it is ok to do that as long as I face the light. Q5. What is the alternative if they don't, according to Isaiah 28:21? In this parable, Isaiah teaches that, in his wisdom, God will only thresh his people to the extent necessary to achieve his intended result --of making delicious bread in the end.

1. My sinful nature. Selfishness and self-centeredness; trying to have all of my basic instincts fulfilled, for me usually in an exaggerated degree. I am the center of the universe and in control of my own destiny. Self-knowledge is the answer.

Q3. (Romans 5:15-19) 1. By what right does Adam represent all humankind? 2. By what right does Christ become head of all who become his disciples? 3. If Christ is not our "representative" or "head," how can his death for sins be effective for us? 1. From1 Corinthians 15:44-49 (NIV) 44it is sown a natural body, "The first man Adam became a living being"[ The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, 47The first man was of the dust of the earth, 48As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; 49And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, In 5:14 it carries the idea of "advance presentations" or "type" of a similar one to come.64 Adam's fall resulted in the corruption of the nature of all of us. Instead of being "good," we are now broken, flawed at the deepest levels. There is a mixture of both good and bad. 2. From1 Corinthians 15:44-49 (NIV) it is raised a spiritual body the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. and after that the spiritual the second man from heaven. and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

Q2. (Romans 5:13, 20) 1. What is Paul saying in these verses? 2. Can there be sin without law? 3. In what sense does the "trespass increase" (5:20) when the law is present? 1. In verse 13, he acknowledges that sin existed along with its resultant death, even before the law was given through Moses. (5:20) "The law was added so that the trespass might increase." 2. Yes. If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it still make a noise? 3. The law was given to Moses to make man's sin more visible and stand out in stark relief from righteousness.[/size]

[color="#000080] Q1. 1. What kinds of circumstances in modern life can you think of where a single person acts for an entire group? 2. In what ways are members of the group tied to this person? 1. Country Leaders going to war. Those on a spiritual pedestal may use may use their knowledge to skew the ideas of others in the group. If not in the spirit with

Q3. (Romans 5:6, 8) 1. Why is it so important to embrace the truth that "Christ died for the ungodly" (5:6), that "Christ died for sinners" (5:8)? 2. According to 5:8, did Christ die for us at our best or at our worst? 3. How does this give us assurance against the devil's lies about us being too bad to forgive? 1. Even as the wretch that I am, in my deepest, darkest valley of this physical life, there is always hope. I