God willing, we'll return to our studies in Matthew's Gospel next week. This morning, we're going to look at Isaiah 55, verses 1 to 13. It's a packed chapter. We will not consider every detail, but hopefully give the sense of the whole.
A familiar passage if you have been with us in this church for any amount of time, and as I've said before, familiar passages are familiar for a reason. We ought to visit certain passages over and over again, and certainly Isaiah 55 is one we ought to visit frequently. I'll begin reading in chapter 55 at verse 1.
A Universal and Gracious Invitation
Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk, without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.
Incline your ear and come to me. Here in your soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David. Indeed, I have given Him as a witness to the people, a leader and commander for the people.
Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you shall run to you because of the Lord your God and the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts.
Let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him. And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out with joy and be led out with peace.
The mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree. And it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. Amen.
Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Our blessed God and our Holy Father, we thank you for the Lord's Day. We thank you for this place of rest. We thank you for this place of worship. We thank you for this place where you have promised to be present with your people in this new covenant setting.
God, certainly it is a joy for us to read Scripture and to see that Jesus Christ is in the midst of the lampstands. We pray that even now the Father, the Son, and the Spirit would be present in this place to encourage and strengthen our hearts And Lord God, for those outside of Christ, we pray that today would be the day of salvation. As your word says, as you say in this passage, that word does not return unto you void. It accomplishes the purpose for which you sent it.
And we know that you are a gracious God, you are a merciful God, and you have purposed the salvation of a great multitude that no man can number, from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And we pray that today would be the day of salvation. We pray that today sinners would respond to this blessed invitation addressed by God to sinful souls. We ask that you would forgive us now for all of our unrighteousness and all of our transgression and sin.
We ask that you would extend to us that abundant pardon that Isaiah says you give to your people. and do provide the Holy Spirit now and guide us and instruct us and lead us. And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Introduction
Well, I think it would be safe to say and safe to suggest that Isaiah 55 would not be present if it were not for Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 is the servant song of Yahweh that speaks about the one who would come from the Lord, the one who would give his life as a sacrifice, the one who would provide atonement, the one who would indeed save his people from their sins. It's because of what the servant does, according to Isaiah 53, that chapters 54 and 55 make sense. In 54, there's promises given especially to the church, to Israel, to the remnant, to the believers.
There is a four-fold promise given to the faithful in Isaiah 54. One man has said it's descriptive of what God will do based on the work of the servant. Isaiah 55 is prescriptive. It is a prescription to those to come.
It is a call or a command or an invitation from God through Isaiah the prophet to come and have eternal life, to come and buy this water, this wine, this milk, to get the refreshment and the complete satisfaction that God alone affords through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's the sort of context that we find ourselves in. Isaiah 53, the atoning work of Jesus. Isaiah 54, this fourfold promise to the people of God.
And on the heels of that, Isaiah 55, this invitation to join the people of God. This invitation to believe on the Lord Jesus. This invitation to repent from sin. This invitation to come to the one alone who is able to save sinners to the uttermost.
Now, the chapter breaks down into two sections. In the first place, there is that invitation to come, verses 1 to 5. In the second place, there is this instruction concerning belief and repentance, or a call to believe and repent. That's verses 6 to 13.
So this invitation to come, and then secondly this call to believe and repent. So an invitation, and then how we are to respond to that invitation.
The Invitation to Come
So let's look first at the invitation proper. Notice in verse 1, ho. Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. We ought to appreciate here the reality that this is a universal invitation.
The prophet knows that within Israel there are the saved and there are the unsaved. But the prophet also realizes in his own prophecy, and in this very chapter, that God the Lord will bring Gentiles, those who are afar off, he will bring them to Israel's Messiah. So when the prophet says, Ho, everyone who thirsts, he is speaking to everyone. And not just Jews and Gentiles in the century that he wrote, but to us here this morning.
If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, listen to the prophet Isaiah. If you are not saved, if you have not been forgiven, if you don't know the abundant pardon that the prophet speaks of in this particular chapter, I hope and pray that your ears will be on today, that you will be paying attention, that you will be listening to what this man of God has to say. E.J. Young makes this comment concerning this ho, this address to everyone who thirsts.
He says, the introductory particle, this word ho, is mainly an attention-getting device, but it expresses a slight tone of pity. The prophet is an evangelist with a concern for the souls of men and a realization of their desperate condition without the blessings that the servant has obtained. I think that's very important that we understand that. God, through the prophet, is addressing man.
God, through the prophet, sends out this net far and wide. And God, through the prophet, as E.J. Young says, tinges this prophet with this pity. Because the reality is, is that when you don't come to Israel's Savior, when you don't come to the Lord Jesus Christ, when you don't come to this living water, when you don't drink this milk and wine that He offers for free, you will die in your sins.
You will perish in hell forever. That's the stakes. That's what's in view. And that's what moves the prophet under God to say, ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.
Notice the fact that it's a gracious invitation. He says, and you who have no money, come buy and eat. Isn't that intriguing? The Lord God offers something to us.
And then he says, if you don't have money, I want you to come buy and eat. Kind of doesn't make sense, does it? The situation seems to be similar to a marketplace where persons are peddling their wares and men are crying out on the streets, oh, I want you to come, I want you to purchase my wine, I want you to purchase my milk, I want you to purchase my water. We're used to such things.
And yet in this instance, the Lord God Most High, through His prophet, says, and you who have no money, come buy and eat. You've heard us many a time in this pulpit say, salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone. That means it's not by your doing, it's not by your working, it's not by your getting better. I'm always a bit hesitant to pray for those who are lost or those who are unsaved, because I don't want those who are lost or unsaved to think that that's a statement of pride on the part of the prayer.
I'm not saved and I'm not not lost because of anything good in me. The brethren here who are saved and who are not not lost, I don't know if that's accurate. Give me a few moments to consider that. Those who are in Christ, they're not there because of their goodness.
They're not there because of their money. They're not there because of their merit. They're not there because of their law-keeping. They're there because of the grace of God Most High that has been poured out richly through His Son, the Lord Jesus.
And the fact that we can come and buy and eat and drink doesn't mean that someone hasn't paid the price. Christ has. Isaiah 53, the Lord was pleased to bruise him. He put him to grief.
The Lord Jesus Christ stood in our stead after having satisfied the divine law. Christ pays the price so that sinners by grace can come without money, without work, without merit. They can come to Christ and know the fullness of blessing and joy. Motier says, yet alongside the emphasis on freeness, the verb buy is repeated.
Notice, you who have no money, come buy and eat. Again in verse 1, yes, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. He says, alongside the emphasis on freeness, the verb buy is repeated. The thought of purchase is not set aside.
You see, grace is unmerited favor. God gives us grace. But it's not just this ethereal thing that he decides according to his arbitrary decision. It's because of what Christ has done.
And that's what Motier goes on to say. The thought of purchase is not set aside. This is no soup kitchen. Even if the clients are beggars, there is a purchase and a price, though not theirs to pay.
They bring their poverty to a transaction already completed. What's he saying? You can respond by God's grace to this invitation without money, without price, because Christ has done it all. Christ has lived.
Christ has died. Christ has been raised. Christ is enthroned at the right hand of God Most High. And all those who by God's grace believe can come without money and without price.
He says, there is a purchase and a price, though not theirs to pay. They bring their poverty to a transaction already completed. Contextually, this is another allusion to the work of the servant. His the price, ours the freeness.
You know, we talk about salvation as a free gift, and we mean it, but we ought never to forget that it cost Christ. It cost Jesus. The Lord Christ gave himself on our behalf. Pastor Cam read Matthew 121.
He will save his people from their sins. Another text that owes its very being to the prophet Isaiah, chapter 53. He will save His people from their sins. How does He do that?
Through His life, through His death, through His resurrection, such that when sinners come without money and without price, when sinners look, they'll live. This invitation is most blessed, and
The Fullness of Salvation Offered
notice that it's most complete. He says, come to these waters. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. What does this speak to?
It speaks to a full salvation, doesn't it? Waters are refreshing, aren't they? If you say no, you've never been thirsty. Waters are refreshing.
What does milk do? Milk nourishes us, doesn't it? Protein for strong bones and muscle repair. They said in my post-surgery, I need to eat a lot of protein to build that muscle back up.
Well, a good way to supplement is to drink a glass of milk. But then what about wine? According to Psalm 104, God made wine to gladden the hearts of men. There is a gladness involved, there is refreshment involved, there is nourishment involved.
In other words, the salvation that God calls you to participate in is absolutely glorious. And
The Interrogation: Why Spend on What Does Not Satisfy
that brings us, secondly, to consider, under this same ad, the invitation to come, the interrogation in verse 2. Look at what Isaiah asks his hearers. He says, why do you spend money for what is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy? In light of what the God of Israel offers in terms of wine, water, and milk, in terms of what the God of Israel offers in terms of salvation by grace through faith, in terms of what the God of Israel gives to His people, why do you spend your money on that which is not bread?
And why do you spend your wages on that which does not satisfy? I'm sure you parents with teenagers have had this experience. Your teenager begins to work, and your teenager gets his or her first paycheck. Your teenager wants to buy clothes, and they buy a shirt, let's say, and it's $75.
And you say something to the effect, you know, if you went to Walmart, you could get a three-pack for like 12 bucks. What are you doing? What's the matter with you? Am I alone here?
Have you parents gone through this? I can't imagine spending $75 on a t-shirt. I could take all my t-shirts together and melt them into one. It still wouldn't be $75.
You want to wrap them on the head and say, what's your problem? Well, that's actually something legitimate, buying a shirt. What if they get into drugs? What if they get into alcohol?
What if they start pursuing sexual relations outside of marriage, and they're spending not only their money, they're spending their energy, they're spending their time, they're spending their very being on that which does not and cannot satisfy? Wouldn't it rise up in you to ask with the prophet Isaiah the very same thing? Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? In Isaiah's context, he's telling the northern tribes, he's telling Judah rather, he's telling them specifically, why would you follow Baal?
Why would you give your efforts and energies to Moloch? Why do you spend your money on that which is not bread? Why do you spend your wages on that which does not satisfy? Now let's bring that to bear upon us.
It may not be t-shirts, it may not be all these other illegitimate things, but if you are not in Christ, if you have not come to the Lord Jesus, if you are a young person or a child or an adult that has heard this gospel week in and week out, and hopefully day in and day out through faithful parents, why do you continue to spend your money on that which is not bread? Why do you continue to spend your wages on that which does not satisfy? You take your time, you take your talents, you take your energies, and you pour them out at the feet of an idol? You pour them out at the feet of something that is not God?
You pour them out at the feet of something that cannot bless, or satisfy, or give this milk, water, and wine? What's your problem? What's the matter with you? Remember, this is the prophet Isaiah speaking to the southern tribes, but it's God the Lord who is coming through him.
What's the matter? The prophet Jeremiah, God says, what fault have they found in me that they would pursue these other gods? Ask yourself that this morning. What is there about the God who made you, and the God who sustains you, and the God who daily blesses you, and yet you resist Him, you reject Him, you refuse to come to His Son.
You refuse to know the joys of everlasting life. You refuse to know the blessing that is to be had by a relationship with God through our Lord Jesus. This is what moves the prophet. Why do you spend money for what is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy?
Calvin says men are so enchanted by the devil that they choose rather to wander through deserts and to vex themselves in vain than to rely on the grace which God offers to them. Isn't that sad? Isn't that terrible? It's a miserable situation that faces us as men and women and boys and girls.
Men are so enchanted by the devil that they choose rather to wander through deserts and to vex themselves in vain than to rely on the grace which God offers to them. You've heard this message. You've heard it from your parents. You've heard it from your pastors.
You've heard it on sermon audio. You've heard it for as long as you can remember. And yet, you continue to refuse, and continue to resist, and continue to reject. Why?
So you can pursue lusts? So you can gratify your flesh? So that you can know what the world calls joy, which really isn't? Brethren, listen.
Friend, listen to the interrogation of the prophet Isaiah and ask yourselves this question. Why? Why is it that I spend my money on that which is not bread? Why is it that I waste my wages on that which does not satisfy?
Why am I more content to go to the back of the beautiful restaurant that gives away free food in abundance? Why do I neglect and resist that and I go into the back where their dumpster is and I eat garbage? Why is it the case that I'm more inclined to the garbage? Why is it that I'm more inclined to that which does not satisfy and I resist and I reject the very God who made me?
I think these are good questions to ask oneself. Talk to yourself this afternoon, what is my problem? Why am I not in Christ? Why haven't I believed?
Why have I rejected? Why have I resisted? Do these drugs satisfy? Does this alcohol satisfy?
Does this sex satisfy? Yeah, because people that are addicted to drugs and alcohol and sex are the most well-adjusted people on the face of the earth. Stable, secure, and happy. No.
That's not true. Or persons who are attached to money, mammon, idols, whatever it may be. Does it satisfy? Does it hold forth blessing?
The chapter ends with peace and joy for the recipients of God's gift. Notice, we've got the invitation proper, the interrogation.
Blessings of the Invitation
Notice the blessings listed, verses 2b to 3a. The satisfying water, wine, and milk. Oh, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. You who have no money, come buy and eat.
Yes, come buy wine and milk. Notice in verse 3, incline your ear and come. The intensity of the invitation is seen in the fourfold repetition of come. What do you think God is saying to you this morning?
Stay. And God's saying, just stay where you're at. Continue in your sex, continue in your drugs, continue in your alcohol, continue in your money, continue in your worldliness, continue in all that, just stay right there. No, four times through the prophet Isaiah, to a very incorrigible people, he says, come, come, come, come.
I submit that that's what God is saying today through the very same passage to sinners in this place. Come, come, come. Just in case you missed that, come. Notice the blessings, water, wine, milk, the delight of soul.
Verse 2, see and let your soul delight in abundance. Those of you who have by God's grace come to Christ, do you regret it? Do any believers here say, man, what a miserable lot I have as a Christian. It's terrible.
My sins are forgiven and I'm going to heaven. No, that's not typically the way it is. Typically it's, my sins are forgiven and I'm going to heaven. It's my sins owe the bliss of this glorious thought.
My sins not in part but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. There's abundance to be had in God.
What's Jesus saying in John 10, 10? I came that they might have life. And that they might have it what? Miserly, just a little bit.
No, that they might have it abundantly. What does Paul say in Ephesians 1? Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with what? With every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
He's not a miser. He doesn't just allot us a few things. But God satisfies to the utmost all who by God's grace come to His Son. Notice the fellowship with God, verse 3a, and come to me.
Isn't this the chief boon in our religion? Isn't this the consummate blessing? Isn't this what Adam forfeited and Christ secures? I will be your God and you shall be my people.
Isn't that everything for us? Yes, our sins are forgiven and we're on our way to heaven. But what do we have when we're in heaven? We have God.
We have the Lord Jesus. We have that place where Christ and the Father and the Spirit are the light of that place. And there's no need for a temple, because they are the temple. The dwelling place of God has become realized.
Promise Pledged by Covenant and Davidic King
Notice as well the blessing of spiritual life, verse 3b. It's one of the ways we know that when Isaiah counsels persons or invites persons in his day to come buy and eat, to come buy wine and milk, he's using this in a spiritual sense. He's not talking about a real marketplace. Isaiah hasn't schlepped his wares to the marketplace and he's now inviting persons to part with their real hard-earned dough.
No, what does he say at the end of verse 3b? And your soul shall live. The things in view in the prophet Isaiah chapter 55 is spiritual life, spiritual blessing, justification, sanctification, glorification, salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. That's what the Lord God Most High holds out to sinners today.
It really is beautiful. Please don't say, wow, this is the prophet Isaiah back in the seventh century B.C. and he's talking to the southern tribes of Israel or Judah and this has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with you. It has everything to do with you.
Fourfold come, come, come, come. Interrogation. Why do you waste your money? Why do you waste your efforts?
Why do you waste your energy on that which does not satisfy? And then God sets forth to you, before you, all the things that are to be had in the Lord Jesus Christ. He couldn't make it look better. He couldn't make it look more more joyful.
It's really a sad thing. Outside of the church, people have this view of Christians that we're all these miserable sourpusses. Let's not validate that by being miserable sourpusses. We ought to be happy to be Christians.
We ought to rejoice that we are believers. We ought to sing the Sunday school with a bit of vigor and earnest. This train is bound for glory. Woo, woo, and I am heaven bound.
Why is it the case that outside of the church, it is the view that we're all miserable? We ought to be the happiest campers in Chilliwack. We ought to be the happiest people in BC. In fact, we ought to excel in these things.
The apostle commands us to rejoice always. I don't mean if you lose your arm and farm equipment, you know, just sing a ditty. I don't mean that. But there ought to be that peace which does surpass all understanding that comes through even if you do lose an arm and farm equipment.
Because we have something that the world cannot take away. We have something that the devil cannot take away. We have something that is sure, something that is secure, something that has been purchased by the Son of God. And that's what Isaiah does in the final section in this particular section.
Notice, how is this the case? Have you ever been called? A telemarketer, they'll call and they say, you know, I've got this offer for you. You can have a free trip to anywhere in the world.
We'll give you cash to put in your wallet and it's just great. No obligation. What do you typically think? It sounds too good to be true.
Right? We've heard that before. It sounds too good to be true. And typically with telemarketers, it is too good to be true.
You might well up in your heart saying, this sounds too good to be true. You mean he's actually going to forgive me for my sins? Do you know what I've done? Do you know the lengths I've gone to in rebellion against God?
You Christians talk about how great those Ten Commandments are. I used to dance on them and spit on them, and I reviled them, and I did all manner of wickedness and evil and vileness and sin. How in the world could this God ever do what he says he's going to do? Well, this section ends with guarantees.
The promise is pledged by covenant. Notice verse 3b. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David. You see, God has purposed via covenant to save a great multitude that no man can number.
It sounds too good to be true, but it's not. Notice as well, the promise is secured by the Davidic king. Verse 4, Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people, a leader and commander for the people. In Isaiah 53, Jesus is shown in his priestly office as the atoning sacrifice for sin.
In this reference, Jesus is set forth as David's greater son, who is both prophet and king. He is a leader. It may sound too good to be true, but our Jesus can deliver the goods based on what He's done, according to Isaiah 53, and based on what He's doing in terms of His prophetic office and ministry, and in terms of His kingly reign. You ought not to fear.
You ought not to think it's too good to be true. You ought to come. That's what you ought to do. And in the third place, this promise is transacted by God Himself.
Notice in verse 5, "...surely you shall call a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you shall run to you." Again, Gentiles streaming to Zion, Isaiah 2. Gentiles streaming to Zion to hear the law of the Lord. And notice what it says, "...because of the Lord your God and the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you." So while it may sound too good to be true, it's not. While it may sound something that you could never conceive of in light of the fact that you have sinned against a holy God, nevertheless, it's true.
We've tasted, we've seen that the Lord is good. Again, when persons come into a church and they're surrounded by Christians, they ought not to think, wow, these are a wonderful people in and of themselves. No. We're wretched, hell-deserving sinners who, by God's grace, have believed the gospel.
Right? Isn't that it in the final analysis? Why are you going to heaven? Well, because I do good things.
No. Why are you going to heaven? Because I'm me. No.
Why are you going to heaven? Because we've done great with our kids. No, you're going to heaven because Jesus lived, because Jesus died, because Jesus rose again. And God in his infinite mercy, grace, and love gave you the graces of faith and repentance to close with his son.
So we've seen it's not too good to be true. It is true. How do we respond? What are we supposed to do?
The invitation has been given, right? Is that what we see there? Oh, everyone who thirsts, come. If you think about Jesus' ministry, you wonder if he had his devotions in the prophet Isaiah in John 4, when he talks to the woman at the well about living water.
Or he had Isaiah 55 in his mind at the last great day of the feast in John 7, 37 to 39. If any man thirsts, let him come to me and drink. So the invitation is out there. Now, what do we do with it?
Well,
The Call to Believe and Repent
that brings us to the call to believe and repent, verses 6 to 13. The call to believe and repent.
The Place of Faith
Notice the place of faith in verse 6. Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. That's the language of belief. That's the language of faith.
That's the language of coming to Jesus Christ. Romans chapter 10, verses nine to 13, the apostle says that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture says, whoever believes on him will not be put to shame.
For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who Call upon Him, for whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." You see that juxtaposition? To believe on the Lord is to call upon the Lord. And this is what the prophet says in Isaiah chapter 55. The Lord God Most High issues this invitation to all those who thirst.
He issues this invitation to all those who are in sin and deadness and depravity. And he says, seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. That's the response.
That's what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to believe. You say, we don't sound much like a Calvinist. Don't Calvinists think that God predestined and God elected?
Yeah, I do. God predestined and God elected. The manifestation of that, the evidence or fruit of that is faith in Christ. You are never called in scripture to determine whether you, as an unbeliever, are called, elected, and predestined.
You are always instructed to believe. Do you get that? People coming out of different traditions say, well, I don't know if I'm predestined. I don't know if I'm elect.
I don't know if I'm called. Christians are told to make their calling and election sure. That simply means live in such a way that you flesh out what has happened in your life. But as an unbeliever, you're not told, you know, read Spurgeon, read Gill, read the old brothers and determine whether you're elect or predestined or one of those guys.
No, the call is to believe. Rest assured that if by God's grace you believe, you can count yourself among that blessed lot. This is what the prophet says, seek Yahweh while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. There's a horrible implication in this verse.
This is why if you resist this message, you continue in penitent, you continue to spend your wages on that which does not satisfy, this particular verse holds out an implication that ought to terrify you. Seek the Lord while he may be found indicates there's a time he won't be found. Call upon him while he is near indicates there may be a time when he's You see, why will you tarry? That's an old-fashioned word that means wait.
Why will you continue in your sins? Why will you continue to resist and reject? Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near.
That's the place of faith.
The Place of Repentance
Notice the place of repentance in verse 7. These two graces go hand in hand. He says, let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord.
That's what repentance is. Dependence is a change of mind with reference to God and there are fruits that are manifested. So to take the analogy earlier, you don't buy $75 shirts anymore. You don't continue in a path of drug addiction anymore.
You don't continue as a slave to the bottle. You don't continue as a slave to your sexual lusts and desires. There's repentance. That's what the prophet says.
Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord. What's the implication there? It'll be fleshed out at the end of the verse.
The Lord receives them. It's beautiful. We get this idea that I've got to clean up my act and then I'll go to Jesus. I've got to fix my life, then I'll get religion.
I've got to stop this and then I'll go to church. No, that's not what the prophet says. The prophet says, come to the Lord, bring that stuff, and the Lord will heal you. Spurgeon says, oh, there be men that quite misunderstand the gospel.
They think that righteousness qualifies them to come to Christ. Now, this repentance, obviously you believe and you leave and you go to the Lord Jesus, but it's not the case that you've got to fix all these things before you come. No, believe the gospel. By God's grace you seek to deal with those things.
But listen to Spurgeon. There be men that quite misunderstand the gospel. They think that righteousness qualifies them to come to Christ. You ever met those people?
Oh no, I'm just too terrible to be saved. What's the implication? I need to be better to be saved. No, you need to be saved because you're terrible.
Do you all get that? We don't need to be saved because we're doing well. We need to be saved because we're dead. He says sin is the only qualification for a man to come to Jesus.
If you say this more, I'm just a wretch, then come! Come! Come! Come!
Incline your ear. Listen carefully to me, says the prophet, and come! Good old Crisp, this is Tobias Crisp, this is Spurgeon, good old Crisp says, righteousness keeps me from Christ. The whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick.
Sin makes me come to Jesus when sin is felt. And in coming to Christ, the more sin I have, the more cause I have to hope for mercy. And that's what the end of verse seven fleshes out. Look at six and seven.
Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him.
And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Isn't that great? If you're not a believer this morning, that ought to make you encouraged. That ought to make you jump for joy.
That ought to make you jump for Christ. There's abundant pardon in God. All of your sins, all of your iniquities, all of your transgressions, all of the stuff you've done against this holy God is forgiven. That's one of those blessings in the gospel I still just can't believe.
It feels like, to me, it's too good to be true. I know the Bible tells me it's not. I know the Bible tells me it is true. But that's tough, man.
All the stuff I've ever done, my sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. That makes the sinner cry, praise the Lord, praise the Lord. Or what Zechariah says in Zechariah 13 what? In that day there will be a fountain open for what?
For sin and uncleanness. Never understood the person that said I'm so sinful I can't come to Jesus. You're so sinful you must come to Jesus. It's like saying, I'm so hungry, I can't eat this sandwich.
I'm so thirsty, I can't drink this water. Eat the sandwich, drink the water, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, this is what God is saying. Let him return to the Lord and he will have mercy on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon.
I know that I've told you before that our son Micah got his name because of the prophet Micah in the Old Testament. I remember prior to his birth, reading through the prophet Micah, and at the end, Micah uses a version of his name, which means, who is a God like you? Micah, the prophet, is musing on his name, most likely, or at least using that analogously to who God is. He says, who is a God like you?
You know what comes on the heels of that? Pardoning, pardoning our sin. It really is amazing, isn't it? Have you ever sinned against someone?
Perhaps a child to their parents and you thought, man, they'll never forgive me. And they forgive you. Or you as a parent have sinned against your child and you've thought you've emotionally scarred them and they're on their way to some clinic and they need years of therapy to undo what you've done. That's why I like grandkids.
I don't feel as directly involved in the emotional scarring process as I did with the kids. I was directly responsible for their state. Not so with the grandkids. I get to play with them, hug them, kiss them, and give them back to the parents who are responsible for their emotional state.
But your kids forgive you, don't they? Does that forgive you, Dad? You know by their conduct, you know by their words, you know by the pattern subsequent, they did forgive you. This is what the text of Scripture says concerning God.
You come to Him through Christ, and what happens? Abundant pardon. You say, I'm an abundant sinner? There's abundant pardon in God.
As Newton said, I have learned this. I am a great sinner, but Christ is a great Savior. Now, when he gives this call to believe and repent,
Three Reasons to Believe and Repent
he gives us three reasons why we will not be here too long. Some of you are probably thinking, man, his hip hurt. He probably was up there for 20 minutes. It feels good.
It's healing well. So we got another, I don't know how long, but I got titanium in there now. I'm stronger and faster and better than I was before. So that means longer sermons, brethren. the collective eye roll now.
Three reasons.
The Nature of God
Notice the nature of God, the power of God's word, and the promise of future blessing. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Forsake your ways.
Forsake your thoughts. And the Lord God will abundantly pardon. Why? Because it's who he is.
Look at verses eight and nine. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, as Yahweh. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. There's a couple different ways to view this verse.
Some, unfortunately, teach exactly what it doesn't mean. They come to this passage and say, we can't know anything about God. Because his thoughts are not our thoughts and his ways are not our ways. Therefore, we can't know anything about God.
You'll see this in theological dispute at times. The person that is being bested in an argument will seek redress here. Well, you know, we just don't know. Oh yeah, we can know, you just don't like what it says.
The text is not indicating we can't know God. The Bible is full of propositions about who God is. God is love, God is existence, God is kind, God is gracious. Those are all things we know about God, isn't it?
Now Jesus defines eternal life, this is eternal life, that they may, what? Know thee, the only true God in Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. So whatever verses eight and nine means, it does not mean we can't know God. I think it goes in two directions.
I think in the first place, it highlights the mind-blowing reality that is God's forgiveness of miserable sinners. Because as I've said, we get this invitation, we say, wow, it's too good to be true. No, I've guaranteed it by covenant. I've guaranteed it by the work of the Davidic Messiah.
I have guaranteed it by my own transaction of it. I'm calling upon you to seek the Lord, to believe the gospel. I'm calling upon you to repent. That means forsake your ways and your thoughts, and I will abundantly pardon you.
Doesn't that cause you to well up and say, wow, why does he do that? Remember several weeks ago, Pastor Porter preached from Isaiah 6. That God, that Holy One, that amazing One, in whose presence the prophet cries, Woe is me, for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the Lord, the God of hosts.
And later on in Isaiah the prophet, 57-15, we learn that Yahweh inhabits eternity, but He dwells with Him who is of a humble and a contrite spirit. This indicates or underscores the incomparable excellency of our God. Why does He do this? Because His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways.
We wouldn't extend this kind of forgiveness. We wouldn't extend this kind of mercy. We wouldn't send the Son of our love. We wouldn't be pleased to bruise Him, putting Him to grief.
We wouldn't lay upon Him the chastisement for our sins. We wouldn't do this. But He would. But as well, right in the context, the wicked are told to forsake their thoughts and their ways.
Why? Because God's thoughts and His ways are not ours. In other words, we are in sin in our thoughts and in our ways. It could be another application of the whole idea of repentance.
We've got to stop thinking our thoughts. We've got to stop doing our ways. We've got to, by the grace of God, align ourselves with this God's thoughts and ways. You see?
The Power of God's Word
In the second place, the prophet underscores the power of God's word. Verses 10 and 11. This is why we get out of bed on the Lord's day. This is why we evangelize, this is why we preach, this is why there are missionaries, because the Lord God Most High has promised that His Word will not return unto Him void.
He uses the analogy from nature. There's no life and there's no growth on the earth if there's no rain, if there's no snow. You don't have to be a farmer to know that. If you don't have water coming down out of heaven, falling on the ground, there's not going to be life.
There's not going to be growth. There's not going to be anything but a barren piece of rock. That's what a sinner is, a barren piece of rock. And yet the word of God comes by the power of the Holy Spirit.
And what happens? These dry bones, they live. What happens? These dead men are raised.
What happens? These sinners pass from death into life. What happens? These who are in darkness are called out into marvelous light.
Look at what the prophet says, for as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth and make it bring forth in bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. Never understood the part of an unbeliever to stay away from church. Never understood on the part of the unbeliever not to read scripture. I've never understood that because it's so common and so obvious and so clear the way to salvation.
Obviously grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, but that knowledge and that information and those propositions come from this book. If you parents are concerned about the spiritual state of your children, be in church with them. Bring them morning and evening. Don't let a day pass where they're not under Scripture.
The means by which God uses to bring them eternal life is this precious Word. Bring them to that Word. Bring that Word at home. Bring that Word when you rise up, when you walk by the way, and when you lie down at night.
Be Peter in John 6, when the Savior says, do you also want to leave? He says, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We want to be where you are.
Don't miss church. Don't miss preaching. Don't neglect the family altar. Don't take Bibles away from or don't teach by your example the non-importance of Holy Scripture.
It ought to be the case that children learn and know and are confirmed in the reality that that book is the message of eternal life. Don't absent yourselves from it. Don't neglect it. So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth.
It shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. Again, that's why we get out of bed on Sunday. This is why we preach. This is why we evangelize.
This is why there are missionaries in the field because God most high has purposed through the preaching of the gospel to save those who believe. Isn't that 1 Corinthians 121? For since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. There's power in the word of God.
There is power in the scripture. Again, attended by the Holy Spirit to be sure. We pray God send the Spirit. Awaken the hearts of men, women, boys, and girls.
May the Spirit lead us, and may He guide us, and may He direct us, and may He open these truths to our hearts and to our understanding, so that we'll be conscious of this reality that I have sinned against a holy God. But this holy God has said to me four times through His prophet, Come, come, come. He's asked me why I'm wasting my money on that which does not satisfy. He's offering me milk and water and wine.
He's offering me soul abundance. He's offering me forgiveness. We need the spirit to show us and convince us of these things. There is power in the word of the living and true God.
And then
The Promise of Future Blessing
the third reason we should believe and repent is found in verses 12 and 13. For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace. The mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees in the field shall clap their hands. Creation rejoices at the salvation of our God.
Passages like these ought to rebuke us when we come into church. And I'm not saying we did this this morning. The singing was beautiful. It's a real blessing to be in a church that sings.
But imagine being in a church that didn't sing. We are here to honor the high king of heaven. We are gathered because of the blood of Jesus and shall we just meander about and just kind of vaguely sing when the creation rejoices at the salvation of our God? When we have been the recipients of this joy and peace?
We ought to be loud singers, happy people and loud singers. I think the two go hand in hand. And then notice in verse 13, it's the language of the reversal of the curse. And probably in context, it also speaks to the restoration from the exile.
Remember, Isaiah is prophesying that the southern tribes will go into exile via Babylon. There will be a period of exile, but there will be restoration. And using that analogy, or using that physicality, there is that spiritual depth and promise of the reversal of the curse that has come because of the first Adam. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree, and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
Well, brethren, because of what the Savior does in chapter 53, this invitation goes out and calls upon sinners to believe. Alec Motier says, when people respond to the Lord's word, calling them to seek, forsake, and return, the effective power of that word brings them into an experience of the love, forgiveness, and peace of God, and lifts them into membership of a new world of eternal duration. This is what the servant accomplished. You see, this goes forth because the Lord was pleased to bruise him.
This goes forth because he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. This goes forth because Christ stood in the place of sinners.
Application
Brethren, just two thoughts, and then we close. In the first place, while I think this passage is addressed primarily to unbelievers, I think there is a word here for believers. I think there is an encouragement here for us to consider this interrogation. Because as believers in Jesus Christ, what can happen to us?
We can get diverted. We can get sidetracked. We can go after illegitimate things. Take something that's very common in the church today.
Studies show that pornography use in the Church of Christ is very high. Men and women addicted to their computer screens to watch illicit things. Certainly, that is spending wages on that which does not satisfy. forsake your thoughts and ways, flee to this God who has promised in Christ to forgive. But consider as well legitimate things.
A man's a hard worker, a woman's busy in the home. You take up a hobby, you take up an interest, and what happens? It becomes all-encompassing. It becomes all-consuming.
Do you know how to measure what's important in your life? What do you spend your time and your money on? I hate to sound so cross and carnal, but what do you spend your time and money on? If it's something that's not God, the prophet's question should be pursued in your heart as a believer.
Why? Why do you spend money on that which is not bread? Why do you spend your wages on that which does not satisfy? You know, the Lord spoke to this in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6.
After cautioning believers against anxiety and worry and fretfulness, He says, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. It's not wrong to have a hobby, brethren. It's not wrong to be a bit interested in sports, but to be consumed by those things? To worship at the idol of whatever it is that's, you know, on TV this week in terms of the game?
How much time and energy, how much of the talents that you possess are poured out at the foot of your idol, whether it's illegitimate or legitimate? We're easy to get sidetracked. Robbie Robinson wasn't wrong. I don't think he went by Robbie, it's Robert.
I don't know why I called him Robbie. Robert Robinson wasn't wrong in hymn 400, prone to wander, prone to leave the God that I love. History says that at the end of his life, or near the end of his life, he was on a stagecoach with a particular woman who said, oh, I love that hymn. It's a wonderful hymn.
And he said, madam, I wish I had the spiritual state now that I had when I penned that hymn. The very thing he wrote became true in his life, prone to wander, prone to leave the God that I love. That happens to believers. Examine your hearts, brethren.
Examine your hearts. What's most important to you? What's of most import? What's of most value?
In the second place, there is certainly an exhortation to unbelievers here. You need to consider the repetition of the invitation. Do not go home today and say, God's word tells me to stay away from Christ. If you think that you have failed miserably in your reception of this message, God's word says, come.
In fact, the prophet says, listen carefully to me. Incline your ear here and your soul shall live. We need to understand the graciousness of the invitation. It's without money, without price.
Certainly it costs Jesus. To be sure, but for sinners, it doesn't cost you money. It doesn't cost you prize. It doesn't cost you perfect obedience and performance.
If you could perfectly obey and perform, there would be no need for the Savior's work at Calvary. If righteousness comes to the law, Galatians 2.21, then Christ died in vain. Christ didn't die in vain. Christ gave up his life for sinners.
We need to understand the description of the blessings. Your soul shall live. Verse 12, you will have joy and you will have peace. We need to understand the promise of abundance.
Let your soul delight itself in abundance. See, God doesn't call you to come and be miserable. Come to my son and life is gonna be horrible. No, that's not it.
Come to my son and you will live. You'll know life. It'll be joyful. It is abundance.
It is safety. It is blessing. It is peace. We need to understand the place of faith and repentance.
Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous men his thoughts. You need to believe on the Lord Jesus.
You need to believe the gospel. You need to look and live. That's God's word to us. And we need to understand the urgency of the situation.
I hope and I pray that you'll get that from verse six. Seek the Lord while he may be found, because there's a day coming when he won't be found. Call upon him while he is near, because there is a day coming when he won't be near. Why will you die?
This was Ezekiel's language to Israel. Why? Why? Why?
Why will you die? This is what God's invitation to eternal life looks like. Well, let us pray and ask the Lord to seal these things to our hearts.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for the Word of God. We thank you that it is powerful and the Spirit's work to bring forth sinners unto Jesus Christ. We pray that today would be the day of salvation. We pray that today would be the day when souls would come and they would buy, and they would taste and see that the Lord is good, that they would come to that one who has the living water of eternal life, Father, work in hearts, work in minds, do these things that we are unable to do.
The Lord Jesus says, it is impossible for us to save men, but with you all things are possible. And we know that this brings you glory, and it brings you honor, so we pray that today you would turn sinners from their idols to the true and the living God. May these things go with us, and may we consider them, and may you bless us and help us to take these things to heart. And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.