Did You Get Invited?

Introduction

Invitations. We receive invitations for a lot of different things. We receive invitations for weddings, birthday parties, coming of age parties, retirement parties, family get-togethers, job interviews, church functions and activities, and so many others. Our passage we are looking at delivers to us and the whole world an invitation that if accepted will alter your life for all eternity.

This week I receive an invitation that reads, “Urgent. Read Immediately. Time Sensitive.” I look at the envelope the invitation is in and come to an opposing position then what the envelope just told me and throw it in the trash. Two days later, I am out in the yard doing some yard work. My neighbor comes out and we strike up a conversation. After a couple minutes of small talk, he asks me if I received an invitation—he describes it as coming in an envelope that said it was urgent and time sensitive. I pause and remember, “Oh, yeah, it was just spam. I threw it away.” My neighbor begins to yell. He yells in a hysterical and surprised manner, “Are you kidding me? Have you emptied your trash out yet?” I ask in a tone of confusion, “Why does it matter, it is just junk mail?” My neighbor stops doing what they were doing and quickly runs in side and shows me the same invitation just the one they received. On it, it says that they have received a gift of 1 Million Dollars with the instructions on how to receive it. I respond in astonishment and going looking for my personal invite

In Isaiah 55, the whole world receives an invite that is similar to this story but the payout is priceless and eternal in value! It is eternal life. We as a people unfortunately treat the invitation from God to save us from a life of eternal torture and damnation in hell just like it is junk mail. We are told it is urgent. We are told to open it and read it immediately. We are told it is time sensitive. Despite all of that, we ball the invitation up and through it in the nearest trash can.

The invitation in our story in our minds was dumb, waste of man power to deliver, pointless junk trying to persuade me to buy into just another scam on how I should live. This in many ways is how both the righteous and unrighteous treat the invitation God, the one and only true God, has delivered to the entire world—past, present, and future.

So, what are you doing with God’s invitation? Does it make sense to you? Are you rejecting it or tossing it aside because it just does not make sense? Isaiah 55 tells each of us the invitation, how we should respond, why we should respond in the way we respond, and the daily impact of our response.

In seeing these points explained, our big idea is...

Big Idea: You can have eternal joy and peace in a wicked world by accepting God’s invitation to have personal relationship him.

I. What - God invites you to have a relationship with him, 1-5

Explanation

The invite - Come to God who will provide a satisfaction and delight that lasts for eternity, 1-3

Verse 1 here begins the invitation for all nations to come and receive the blessings stipulated in Isa 54 for the nation of Israel. Primarily in this passage regarding the blessing of redemption and salvation.

Isaiah’s heart of concern can be identified here in this verse for the nations in their sinful and desperate state to take part in the salvation being offered by God through, what he explains a couple verses later, the Messiah.

The term water Isaiah uses as figurative language. It is referring to spiritual blessing--specifically life-giving blessing. It is similar to Jesus speech to the woman at the well in Samaria (John 4).

The word come is used four times in this verse. Each time to express an invite with an analogy toward the desire of the person being invited.

The thirsty - picture of intense desire

the needy (water, wine, milk) - picture of spiritual blessings.

Isaiah 55:1 lies so close to the heart of God, it reappears at the very end of the Bible as God’s final word to us all until Christ returns (Revelation 22:17)1 (Raymond C. Ortlund Jr. and R. Kent Hughes, Isaiah: God Saves Sinners, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 367.)

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Verse 2 goes on to explain that all of the needs and desires one has spiritually are obtainable free of cost. As one has to spend money to buy food and drink, one does not have to to receive the spiritual blessings God has to offer. God is saying that it makes more sense to eat and drink of the spiritual blessing being offered than to continue with the unsatisfying temporal pursuits of life

In fact the blessings that God offers have a taste that is richer and more satisfying than anything you have ever tasted. Your soul fills with delight!

Isaiah presses us: “Endless vitality can be yours for nothing. Why don’t you run there? Why? Where’s the payoff you keep sacrificing for here in this worldly system?” We have no reason to refuse God, and we have no reason to cling to our idolatries. That which is not bread cannot satisfy, no matter how expensive it is or how hard we try to make it work. Our world is a vast marketplace of unsatisfying but costly remedies for our God-shaped longings. But we’re not very smart shoppers. (Raymond C. Ortlund Jr. and R. Kent Hughes, Isaiah: God Saves Sinners, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 368.)

When we suffer and our self-pity rages at God and we snuggle up to our most comforting lies, how do we find our way back? Seeing through our lies isn’t enough. The only way back is to look again at the servant of the Lord. We despised him and rejected him as he suffered. But he was bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows. The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. But he didn’t open his mouth against us or against God. In fact, he makes blasphemers to be accounted righteous. Looking again at him can calm our shrieking hatred and restore us to sanity.1 (Raymond C. Ortlund Jr. and R. Kent Hughes, Isaiah: God Saves Sinners, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 368.)

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Verse 3 repeats the invitation to come to God for life-giving blessings. He wants the peoples attention. He desires deeply the nations to come to him and partake of the “life-giving” food he is offering. He follows the plea with a promise. God here is restating the promise he made to King David. It is what we call the Davidic Covenant.

The Davidic Covenant was the The promise made by Yahweh that He would establish for King David a “house” or a dynasty of kings who would perpetually reign over God’s people. (Lexham Bible Dictionary). What this entails and what the prophet Isaiah is writing here is that Jesus, the Messiah, God’s Son is King. He is the promised messiah who will deliver Israel and rule and reign from the throne of David one day. Here are key passages discussing the Davidic Covenant:

2 Samuel 7 (see also 1 Chr 17)

2 Samuel 23:5

Psalm 89

Psalm 132 (1 Gregory R. Lanier, “Davidic Covenant,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).)

Culturally, a covenant is an agreement between two parties that specifies requirements for at least one party, and includes blessing and curses for obedience or failure; a contractual arrangement between God and a person, or between human beings, which required binding action from one or both parties; one party often had higher status in the arrangement.

This covenant, this promise, is founded on God’s steadfast and unfailing love for David. This same love he has for all the nations. God is speaking to the nations about the everlasting reign of the Messiah, his son Jesus Christ. Just as his mercies were sure for David his everlasting mercies are true for the nations.

5:3 The covenant with David is found in 2Sm 7. David’s dynasty would be established forever (2Sm 7:16). During the Babylonian captivity, though, the Davidic line of kings ruling in Jerusalem came to an end with Zedekiah. The NT understood the unconditional promise to be fulfilled in Jesus Christ, a descendant of David. Paul quotes this verse in Ac 13:34.1 remper Longman III, “Isaiah,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1121.

The prophet Jeremiah preaches to Israel of the New Covenant that God will make with them in Jeremiah 31:31-39. The New Covenant Jeremiah speaks of is implied in Isaiah’s account here in Isa. 55 speaking of Christ’s everlasting reign. In order to be a part of the kingdom of God you must enter the kingdom of God by accepting the free offer of God’s grace.

The Invited - Does not know God; Jews; Gentiles; All nations

God is speaking here and explaining that the one who will reign, the Messiah, will be a witness to all the nations as well as a leader and commander. The nations will bow before him and worship him! All the nations will bow down before the Messiah.

Isa 55:4–5 The promises to David are extended beyond God’s people to include the nations. In fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant (Gn 12:3), it envisions a time when the nations will come to God’s people. (Tremper Longman III, “Isaiah,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1121.

The free gift of salvation is given freely to all men. John 3:16 says Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. Here God invites all nations and peoples to accept his mercy and grace. To accept the invitation of a lifetime. To receive the gift that will change one’s life for eternity. It does not matter your background, race, gender, societal standing or age. God’s free offer of the New Covenant, the promise of everlasting life through believing on Jesus Christ and his sacrifice provides a life that nothing or no one else can match. It comes through what God calls for in the verses 6-9…repent and forsake! The invite has been given and we have identified the recipients of this invitation. We are now going to see the character of the person doing the inviting.

The Inviter - Witness to the nations of God’s love, holiness, glory

God is everlasting love is made prominent in the steadfast covenant he made with David. God showed love to David with the promise to use his offspring to rule and reign forever. This same love for David is the same love that causes the nations to come running to God.

God is holy. He is above his creation. He is separate from us and perfect. The author of Hebrews calls describes Christ as the supress image of God. He is God! One commentator said this regarding holiness and glory.

The second half of the verse gives the reason these people will come running “to you.” It will be “because of, for the sake of” (lĕmaʿan) your (sg. ) God, the Holy One of Israel. What God has done is not explained here, but from 49:7 one learns that these nations will finally understand God’s work through this royal messianic Servant and respond by bowing before him. In 52:14–15 the nations and their kings will be appalled and shut their mouths because they will finally understand what God did through the servant’s suffering. Exaltation was accomplished because it was God’s plan to glorify “you,” the Davidic Servant. Earlier in 44:23 the prophetic hymn declared that through God’s redemption of Israel he would display his glory in Israel, and in 49:3 he announced that his plan was to display his glory in Israel through the work of the Servant. Now in this verse God indicates that he will glorify the royal figure in 55:3–5. ( Gary Smith, NAC)

The nations will recognize God’s great splendor. ( cf. Isa 35:2; Isa 46:13; Isa 49:3; Isa 60:9, 21; Isa 61:3; Isa 62:3). The work of Salvation in a person’s life magnifies the glorious work of the suffering servant to all those who observe the change in an individual’s life.

Application

Do not throw away the spiritual invite of God. You may receive many invites through the years but this is one invite that has eternal impact. This invitation comes from God himself.

Live invites us to focus on a lot of “sustaining pursuits in life” or “satisfying pursuits”; nothing satisfies more than eternal security had through salvation.

The gift is divine in nature and absolutely true. It broadcasts the glory and character of God to the nations.

The unbeliever needs to heed God’s invite and accept it.

The believer needs to live holy according to the gift as they are communicators of the message, or the invite of eternal implications.

II. How - God calls you to repent of your wicked sin, 6-9

Explanation

The call for action - Seek and call

What is involved with the seeking that Isaiah calls for?

Isaiah 40–66 Invitation to Repent and See God’s Word Fulfilled (55:6–13)

Seeking to get into contact with God involves calling on him, praying to him, and developing a relationship with him.

Isaiah—God Saves Sinners Glad Appeals

To “seek” the Lord is to stop dawdling and to become intentional about him, setting highest value on him, removing everything that keeps us from him, hearing his Word without back-talk, opening up to his will with no preconditions, budgeting our money for his cause first—the ever-widening circle is endless. Seeking the Lord is a whole-life realignment with Christ. We stop treating him as a religious garnish on the side. He becomes our continual feast, our defining center. And the time to move in his direction is now.

Be Comforted Chapter Twelve: Promises and Punishments (Isaiah 54–59)

For one thing, it means admitting that we are sinners and that we have offended the holy God. It means repenting (55:7), changing one’s mind about sin, and turning away from sin and to the Lord. We must turn to God in faith and believe His promise that in mercy He will abundantly pardon. Repentance and faith go together: “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21).

The apostle Paul states Romans 3:9-11 that no one does good and no one can seek after God. Paul is quoting Psalm 14. Men and women cannot seek God in their depraved and wicked state unless God draws them. Here in Isa 55:6 Isaiah is not contradicting Paul. We saw in the first few chapters the invite from God. He is urging even commanding people to seek God while he may be found. God issued a call to repent. This call to repent is God desiring a relationship. Apart from God’s spirit leading men and women to the proclamation they will not hear.

God is using an imperative to stress the urgency of this call to seek God. The call and offer of God’s mercy and grace has a time limit. One day, God will decide all of us have had our time to repent and the door will close. For some that door seems to close even now. Men and women reject this amazing invitation and choose to live in wickedness and unrighteousness. This brings us to the call to repent.

The call for change - repent; The call for the wicked and unrighteous to repent comes with urgency. It calls for the person to repent in two areas:

Actions/deeds - Our actions before salvation are selfish and arrogant. They only seek the best for self. This refers to what you do.

Thoughts - “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Thoughts precede action. Actions manifest character.

Putting these two principles together: True change starts in my heart. What are my affections? What does my heart worship that needs to be removed and turned away from? Jonathan Edwards defines the affections of the mind as “the more vigorous and sensible exercises of the inclination and will of the soul.” (Jonathan Edwards, A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections: In Three Parts ... (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996), 3.)

Isaiah 40–66 Invitation to Repent and See God’s Word Fulfilled (55:6–13)

The act of forsaking past ways and thoughts involves the rejection of these behaviors and a decisive break from past beliefs, assumptions, priorities, and plans. Of course it is not always easy to separate instantly from past friends, past ways of doing things, or a past philosophy of life.

The call for faith - believe; God’s ways and thoughts go beyond ours therefore; believe! Return to the Lord in faith and in experience God’s love manifested though His great pardon of your wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts.

Do not wait! Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:2 “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). Repent today.

It does not make sense though? Why would a holy God send his Son to suffer (Isa 53:6) so that millions upon millions of people throughout the past and present and future could have a perfect home in heaven free from sin. Most importantly, a relationship with God. You and I would desire the complete opposite of those who hated me so much that they sent my son to die. They ridiculed and mocked. God’s ways and thoughts are highter than ours. Who are you and I to doubt the one, true, and holy God? Belief in faith! Repent and Forsake!

Yet, God still pleads. Come and drink of the living water (John 4). Repent and call on the name of the Lord.

Application

God has just finished proclaiming the invitation to beat all invitations. Here this invitation is given not to a specific nation but to all nations. It even speaks of people from around the world coming to the suffering servant who is King and repenting of sin and being saved. It speaks of God’s immense love and mercy in forgiving the wicked and unrighteous.

Our ways and thoughts trivialize God and exalt ourselves, our status quo, our adequacy, our okay-ness (Revelation 3:17). But the truth is, we’re wrong. And what’s wrong with us is everything we are, right down to our thoughts.(Hughes)

We are so tolerant of our sins, especially if we maintain a superficial, technical righteousness. But we’ve lost the radical edge of real Christianity in our generation. I hope we’re not beyond recovery. We may be. We’ve forgotten that Christianity is so contrary to our ingrained likes and dislikes, it requires nothing less than a transformation of the magnitude of a religious conversion. We American Christians can’t just tweak our American ways and American thoughts. We can’t just “make a decision for Christ” and leave it at that. We can’t join a certain church because it won’t challenge our selfish lifestyle and think that’s Christianity. Being nice, harmless, churchgoing people, with no repentance, no submission, no forsaking of self, no pursuit of Christ—but all that covered over with a glaze of sentimental religion on Sunday mornings—this is not at all what God has in mind for us. Could the average church today fit into the Book of Acts? The psychology of too many churches, both liberal and conservative, is so filled with certainty about ourselves that there’s no room for openness to God. We have drifted from the gospel, and we don’t have forever to get back. (Raymond C. Ortlund Jr. and R. Kent Hughes, Isaiah: God Saves Sinners, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 371.)

Unbeliever - stop living in hatred toward God. Stop living in direct opposition to God. You never know when your window will close. Seek God while he can be found! God knows everything you do and think for His ways and thoughts are higher than yours.

Believer - How often do you find yourself getting caught up in the best methods (God needs my help) to proclaiming the message to believe and repent? How often are you proclaiming this message of repentance? How often do find yourself looking for he “perfect opportunity?”

Christian, today is the day. Every single person in our church should be working on a redemptive relationship today. It may be the beginning stages or the established stage. How often are you seeking new redemptive relationships? We as Christians should be about proclaiming the gospel regardless of whether it makes sense or not. God has a reason for why that person was brought into your life. It may not make sense to you but it does not have to.

You may be sitting here saying, Pastor Aaron, I have been working and praying for a person’s salvation for years and nothing has happened. No need to be discouraged. God is in control and his ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts!

God saves. This is what we focus on. Trying to understand all of the ins and outs of salvation is a waste of time because some of it we will never understand. Why? Because God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts.

In the next verses Isaiah speaking for God states reassuring truths about His Word that produce or ought to produce confidence and assurance in God’s redemption of all nations. These verses help to calm the parts of our mind that just do not understand. Verses 10 -11 answer the why to the sureness of this invitation to eternal life and a part in the future kingdom.

III. Why - God declares to you the certainty of His Word, 10-11

God uses His Word to proclaim the gospel to the nations. In these two verses, the imagery of creation and farming are used to emphasize the surety of God’s invitation. The surety of the invitation is rooted in the complete surety of His inspired Word.

God through the prophet Isaiah in these verses uses His own Words as evidence and surety to the offer of salvation for all people. Just as sure as it is that the water and snow help to give life to the earths vegetation and the sowing of seeds provides bread to eat, God’s Word will accomplish all that is declared and the purpose for which it is declared.

This delivers such a wonderful truth and confidence in the saving power of God. For the unsaved, they do not have to wonder will God save them...He will! For the believer, it has taken place and the purpose of salvation being lived out in your life is of fact not fiction. God will accomplish His purpose with saving you! We are saved by God’s grace and mercy in order that God is glorified and praised! The immediate context for God’s surety of Word is his saving work. However, this verse makes a statement that is powerful and life-altering when lived with consistency. We can be confident that everything in God’s Word, the holy scriptures, are without error. Every promise, every precept, every testimony/example. every action the Word of God describes or prescribes is to be followed and applied and trusted!

You and I can trust and obey because God’s Word IS SURE!

God does not make impotent threats or empty promises; when he talks people should listen because what he predicts is exactly what will happen. When God swears something, it will certainly happen because he speaks with integrity and faithfulness. He does not take back his statements (45:23). When God speaks he externalizes who he is; his words represent his values, his will, and his existence. A divinity who has no will and does not reveal himself is a god that does not really exist. In contrast, God’s words accomplish the plans and pleasures of God (55:11b). God’s thoughts, words, and plans are powerful, for all he had to do was to speak and the worlds were created (Gen 1). (Gary Smith, Isaiah 40-66, vol. 15B, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2009), 511.)

Why do we ever doubt? Salvation is completely sure.

Have you ever doubted your salvation? God’s Word promises to never be empty and void in its plans.

God promised Abraham — it happened

God promised David — it will happen

God promised the nations — it is happening

None of God’s promises have ever returned empty and void. Promise after promise has been fulfilled with some to still be fulfilled.

The certainty of God’s Word branches further out from Salvation then salvation. It expands into all areas of life. The Psalmist states in Psalm 119:89 Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.

The prophet comes full circle from 40:8, where he declared, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” Now we know that God’s promises not only last, they give us life. We don’t keep the hope of the gospel alive; this hope keeps us alive. Like the rain, it may take time for the new life fully to burst forth, but rain never fails. Neither does the promise of God to save sinners. In fact, in the end it will be better than we dreamed. (Raymond C. Ortlund Jr. and R. Kent Hughes, Isaiah: God Saves Sinners, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 373. )

Application

God’s Word is reliable and effective! Trust It! Pairing this thought with the previous two verses and with Isa 40:8. Do not doubt God’s power to work. Do not doubt that God is and will work! Because in verses 12-13 the result of accepting God’s invitation is joy and jubilation!

IV. Impact - God describes the everlasting results of a personal relationship with Him, 12-13

The impact of salvation manifests in all creation singing God’s praises. Jesus Christ is eternal and will not be defeated. The kingdom will have peace as Christ reigns on the throne! Abundant fruitfulness will take place in the Millennial Kingdom!

Until that time the believer needs to being going out every day in joy and peace telling of this amazing invitation to be a part of a kingdom ruled by a ruler. A ruler that is honest, just, loving, kind, gracious, merciful, and eternal! The ruler is Jesus Christ.

Where is your joy in salvation? Are you letting this temporal world we live in steal your joy? Are you letting God’s timetable steal your joy? The everlasting results of salvation are joy and peace! We need to exude these qualities in the here and now!

Application of Isaiah 55

Big Idea: You can have eternal joy and peace in a wicked world by accepting God’s invitation to have personal relationship him.

An invite of great magnitude has been issued to the entire world. If you are saved this evening, what are you doing to provide this invite to others? An invite of joy, peace, unity, victory over sin, kindness, love, mercy, grace—Jesus Christ himself!

If you are not actively sharing the gospel and building redemptive relationships—shame on you! This passage wipes out all excuses to not giving the gospel and building gospel-oriented relationships. His ways are higher than ours and better. His Word all powerful and will not return void. God will accomplish his plans.

Therefore, be actively praying that God would place you in someone’s life to help fulfill the purpose of His Word! Ask to be placed in a position for God to use you to proclaim the invite of salvation.

Because of the gospel in your life, stop being discouraged! Stop living in self-loathing and self-pity over your life! God saved you! Rejoice, you have peace with God! Share that peace with others and see the joy return!

A personal relationship with God is a relationship that repents from sin and lives in the joy of the Lord. Trust in Christ daily! Seek God every morning and seek His Word for it will accomplish what it purposes! Will you miss out because of sin or will you be a part of the glorious gospel spread and growth in others lives!

God has promised eternal life and a realtionship with Him! Live in certainty not uncertainty!