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[0:00] Good evening to you all and a very, very warm welcome to our service. It's lovely to see you here. Thank you so much for coming as we gather in the name of our wonderful Saviour, Jesus Christ. A warm, warm welcome to you all. Thank you to you all for your support of the services over this weekend. It's great to see you here and we're so thankful to the Lord for the time that we're able to share together.

[0:21] So after the service this evening, we'll have a fellowship in the hall next door. So please do stay behind for that. I'm pretty sure that there will be loads of amazing food and it'd be great to hear a little bit more from Bob about his life and about all the wonderful things that God has done for him. So you're very, very welcome to stay for the fellowship. And even if you can't stay for it all, even if you stay for a wee while, you're really, really welcome to stay behind for that.

[0:46] It's been a huge joy to have Bob Ackroyd with us for the weekend. On behalf of the congregation, Bob, I want to say just a huge thank you for your support and for all that you've contributed to our weekend together.

[0:59] After the evening service, there'll also be a retiring collection and if you're able to contribute to that, we'd be very grateful indeed. And just on a personal note, I want to say a very big thank you to you all and especially a big thank you to the elders here for all the help and support for me over this weekend with you.

[1:16] So I have thoroughly enjoyed it and I hope that you have too. And I'm very, very much looking forward to hearing Bob again tonight. So I'm delighted to hand over to you. Thank you. Well, good evening, everyone. Again, it's great to be with you and I've enjoyed very much my weekend here in Kalanish. We're going to sing to God's praise. We're going to sing those words in Psalm 68, a psalm of triumph, of victory.

[1:44] The words from verse 18, Psalm 68, verse 18. Thou hast, O Lord, most glorious, ascended up on high and in triumph victorious led captive captivity.

[1:58] We'll sing from verse 18 down to verse 20 to God's praise. Who has, O Lord, most glorious, ascended up on high and in triumph victorious.

[2:32] Cor έ voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy voy for them that told the Lord in this of them might dwell.

[3:18] Blessed be the Lord, good is to us, of our salvation, not to give me with this benefit, as men justly, God, Lord.

[3:53] The old salvation is the God, who is our God most strong, and the true of the Lord from death.

[4:20] He is just to be home. Let's join our hearts in prayer.

[4:31] Let us pray. Amen. As we gather on this day, the day in which the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, we recognize that He too ascended up on high, that He is now seated at your right hand, and He is at that place of ultimate power, ultimate authority, and ultimate honor.

[4:56] And it's our prayer, Lord, that the Lord Jesus Himself would be exalted, that He would be honored, that He would receive the glory that is due to Him.

[5:09] We pray that You would encourage us, strengthen us, equip us, that You would give us hearts that are filled with praise, and with joy, and with thanksgiving.

[5:21] That we praise You from the heart, that we say thank You for the gift of life. Thank You for the gift of eternal life that we have in Jesus Christ.

[5:32] Thank You for Your Word, and thank You for Your truth. We are also filled with joy. We see the abundant goodness, that You, O God, are gracious, that You look upon us with love and with affection, that in Your sight we are precious, we are honored, and we are loved.

[5:51] We thank You for each family represented here. We thank You for the young and for the old, and we ask that You would accompany all that is done in Your name, with Your presence, with Your blessing, and with Your power.

[6:07] We recognize, Lord, that we are weak, but we thank You that You are strong. We often get things wrong, but You always get things right. And we ask that You would speak to us, Lord.

[6:19] Give us ears to hear. Give us hearts that are responsive. Give us minds that are renewed. And help us to trust. Help us to believe.

[6:31] And help us to go forth in faith, knowing that You are a great God, and a good God. And that we have a Savior who knows. A Savior who cares.

[6:43] A Savior who has walked this way before. He understands life. He understands joy and sorrow. He understands trials and tribulations.

[6:54] And what's more, He will accompany us each step of the way until that day when He will bring us to Your intended destination.

[7:07] So, Lord, hear these our prayers. Answer us not according to our asking, not according to our deserving, but answer us according to the riches in glory that are found in Your Son, Jesus Christ.

[7:21] For it is His name we pray. Amen. Amen. Now we're going to sing, this time from Psalm 127. So my home is Edinburgh.

[7:37] And Psalm 127 is the motto of the city of Edinburgh. Accept the Lord do build the house, the builders lose their pain. Accept the Lord, the city keep.

[7:48] The watchmen watch in vain. So those many years ago, there was a recognition that in the city, we needed a watchman who never slept, who never slumbered.

[8:00] We needed the Lord to watch over the city and its inhabitants. And in this psalm, we recognize that without Him, what we do is vain.

[8:11] Without Him, we can stay up late and rise early. But with Him, we can have rest, strength, comfort. So Psalm 127, to God's praise.

[8:21] except the Lord do build the house, the builders have gained, and έ voyque, and έ voy voy voy voy singing in voy voy voy voy voy voy

[9:55] Thine cyroles are for strong men's hands prepared.

[10:08] O happy is the man that hath his winter filled with hope.

[10:27] They are not given in the gate, thou speak unto their foes.

[10:48] Let's turn together to read in the prophet Isaiah. And we're going to read from chapter 55. This morning we looked at the chapter 53, 52 and 53, which so clearly points to the crucifixion of Jesus.

[11:03] You'll notice at the start of chapter 54 that in the midst of what appears to be barrenness, emptiness, the people of God are encouraged to enlarge the place of thy tent, let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations, spare not, lengthen thy cords, strengthen thy stakes.

[11:25] God is saying to his people, you need a bigger building. You need a bigger tent. And we come to chapter 55 and we have an invitation, as it were, to people to fill this large space.

[11:39] An invitation, an open invitation for people to come. The way has been made. The suffering servant died, was buried, and now is triumphantly alive.

[11:51] The tent is now expanded, and all that is required are people. Chapter 55. Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.

[12:03] And he that hath no money, come ye buy and eat. Yea, come buy wine and milk, without money and without price.

[12:14] Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not. Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good.

[12:26] And let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto me. Hear, and your soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

[12:43] Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander of the people. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee, because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel.

[13:02] For he hath glorified thee. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord.

[13:18] And he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

[13:34] 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 cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth in bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater.

[13:57] So shall my word be, that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing where to I sent it.

[14:14] For ye shall go out in joy, and be led forth with peace. The mountains and the hills will break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

[14:28] Instead of the thorn, shall come up the fir tree. 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.

[14:44] Amen. Well, we're going to again join our hearts in prayer. Let us bow our heads and pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you that you have promised just there that as your word goes forth, it cannot and will not come back to you empty.

[15:03] Your word is powerful, and your word is effective, and your word has a way of accomplishing your work in the hearts and lives of ordinary people.

[15:14] We thank you that we have an extraordinary God who does extraordinary things in the lives of us ordinary people. You look upon us with mercy.

[15:26] You look upon us with care. You look upon us with concern. And you want us to know that you are God, and that you are good. And that you want us to come to you in faith, and to know those things which are good and lasting, those things which are significant and substantial, those things which satisfy and delight.

[15:50] Heavenly Father, we pray that you would speak tonight, and that we would listen, that you would speak, and that we would hear your voice, even that still small voice, speaking to us, reminding us of things that we may have heard long ago, or introducing us tonight to those things which we may not have heard, or may not have known.

[16:14] And we thank you, Lord, that you have a way of doing remarkable things at unusual times, in unexpected places. And Lord, we know that you have worked in the past.

[16:27] We ask that you might yet work again. Demonstrate goodness. Demonstrate mercy. Demonstrate power. Show to us the grace of Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for our sakes He has become poor, so that we, through His poverty, might become rich, having all that we need, having all that we desire, having all that we require.

[16:54] And we pray, Lord, that tonight, here and throughout the land, here in the islands, in the large cities, in the north, in the south, in the east, in the west, to the ends of the earth, you are calling to yourself a people, from all nations, from all languages, from all tribes.

[17:16] You're calling the young and the old. You're calling the rich and the poor. You're calling the educated and the illiterate. And you're calling them to come to Jesus.

[17:28] That He has a warm welcome in store for all who hear, for all who respond, and for all who desire, that they might enjoy the good gifts that You are so generously bestowing on humanity and upon Your people.

[17:45] So, Heavenly Father, You know each one of us. And there are many burdens, many sorrows, many troubles, many anxieties. We thank You that we have a Savior who says, Come to Me.

[17:59] All who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give You rest. We thank You that in the midst of tired, in the midst of fatigue, we have rest. In the midst of burdens, we have comfort, and that we have One who knows life on earth firsthand.

[18:17] So, we thank You that we have a sympathetic Savior, and we have One who can do above and beyond what we ask or even imagine. And in this evening hour, we commit ourselves to You.

[18:30] Give us hearts that are filled with expectation as to what You can do. And not only what You can do, but what You will do, and what You are doing, help us, Lord, to see You for who You really are.

[18:44] Help us to see ourselves for who we really are. And help us to behold Jesus, the one name given under heaven by which men and women must be saved.

[18:58] Hear these our prayers, the spoken and the silent. Hear us and answer us, we pray, because we come in that powerful name of Jesus. Amen.

[19:09] Amen. We're going to sing now the familiar words of Psalm 23. Psalm 23, The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want. He makes me down to lie.

[19:22] In pastures green, He leadeth me. The quiet waters by. Let's sing together to God's praise. The Lord's my shepherd, He leads me down to lie.

[19:44] He leads me down to lie. In pastures green, He leads me down to lie.

[19:57] In the quiet waters by. In the quiet waters by. He leads me down to lie. He leads me down to lie. He leads me down to lie. In the quiet waters by.

[20:09] He leads me down to lie. God may be When the light of righteousness In God is only safe His own hope in that star-filled Yet will thy fear not yield For thou art with me As I walk and stop Beyond for sale My fear of my spirit

[21:14] In presence of my foes I have thou thus With all the night that light The hope that flows Goodness and mercy all my life Thou surely follow me And in the skies Forevermore Thy loving grace shall be Let's turn together to the final page of the Bible

[22:16] The last chapter, Revelation chapter 22 Revelation 22 And I'm just going to read two verses Verses 16 and 17 Revelation 22 Verse 16 I, Jesus, have sent mine angel To testify unto you These things in the churches I am the root and offspring of David And the bright and morning star And the spirit and the bride say come And let him that heareth say come And let him that is a thirst come And whoever will Let him take the water of life freely A friend of mine had an All-access tour of the White House Several years ago The president of the executive mansion 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington D.C.

[23:16] And one of the tour guides Made the observation saying That there are many invitations That go out from the White House Receptions and banquets Events Where the great and the good Are invited to come And it was noted that Very few of these invitations Come back I am sorry I am not able to attend You see when the president Of the United States Invites you to his home For a banquet For a reception To meet a head of state Or to be present At some great signing People tend to change their diaries People tend to adjust their schedules Because they want to be present And what we have here Is not from a prime minister Not from a president Not from a king or a prince But we have God himself Issuing an invitation God who is saying To you and to me That he would like us

[24:18] To be present He would like us To join him I am reminded of The many invitations That I receive As a minister We have such great privileges I get invited to attend And to conduct Many, many weddings And my experience Has been universal That every wedding That I have been invited to And been able to attend I am provided with Exceptionally good food Beautiful venue For the wedding And for the reception All is included Nothing is required Required I am not required To bring a packed lunch I do not need To make sandwiches And I am sure There is a beautiful hall Not far from here Where weddings are conducted Food is served And the guests Are amply supplied That is just the way it is And how much more so When God invites people

[25:19] To himself He does not require Anything from us He does not require A contribution He does not require Us to bring anything We must simply Accept the invitation That he gives On the terms That he provides Now this is where The analogy Or the illustration Breaks down Because when you are Planning a wedding You are planning A reception You are planning A big event Well there are limits The venue itself Will have a capacity Your own resources Your checkbook Will have a capacity You can't maybe invite As many people As you would like But the amazing thing About verse 17 Is that God is issuing An open invitation An open invitation To anyone To everyone Because he has All the resources He has all the space He is not limited In anything

[26:19] So let's at least Hear what he has To say You will notice That in verse 16 This is The pulpit Bible Has the letters Of Jesus in red And this is the Final verse That is in red In the Bible Interesting Jesus is Describing himself Jesus is Identifying himself This is who he is He is the root And offspring Of David Which is quite a Remarkable statement Because he says He actually comes Before David And after David You see that's The amazing thing About Jesus Is that he exists In time He was born In Bethlehem And yet he exists Before time He has no beginning He has no end He is the bright And morning star So when we come To God We come to God Through Jesus The invitation Is in his name And we are not Required to do

[27:19] Anything Because he Has done Everything Everything That is needed Everything That is required And verse 17 Gives us the terms And conditions Of this remarkable Invitation The spirit And the bride Say come And let him That heareth Say come And let him That is a thirst Come And whoever Will Let him Take the water Of life Freely You see it begins With a duet As it were Two voices Speaking together And the two voices Are in complete Harmony The spirit Of God The bride Of the bride Of Jesus The spirit Is God himself And the bride Is the people Of God The church Of God And their message Is a message Of welcome Come I'm reminded When I grew up We had a front door

[28:20] And we had a back door And we had a mat At the front door Two different mats If it was my mother Who put out the mat It would have one message And if it was my father Who put out the mat It would have a different message My mother Who was genial And hospitable Her message Would be welcome If it was my father Who was less social He had a mat That had two words Go away Many people think The Bible's message To them Is go away Go away You're not welcome This invitation Isn't for you And that's a sad Statement of affairs I'm not sure How that has happened But I'm reminded Time and again I meet a lot of people In the course of my work In the course of my life And a lot of people Have a lot of problems And I often say to people Why didn't you come to church?

[29:22] Why didn't you come along? Whether it's I'm speaking to people in prison Or speaking to people You know In Edinburgh People like Why didn't you come along to church? You might like it And they look at me Kind of in a dumbfounded way And they say I just told you I have problems I don't want more problems I don't want to feel worse About myself Why would I come to church?

[29:42] Because they feel That somehow Some way That what we are saying Is not Welcome Come in But actually This is not a place For people Like you People with problems Or people Who aren't The people They would like to be But it seems to me That God is saying Something crystal clear He's not saying Go away The spirit And the bride God himself And the people of God Are saying Come There's an open arm There's an open invitation here Come But those two voices Are not Enough There needs to be A third voice Added to this duet The spirit And the bride They say come And let him That heareth Say come The man The woman The boy The girl There's a response Saying yes You're asking me Yes I will You're inviting me Yes I'll come But it's that phrase

[30:42] You notice Him that heareth For many years I lived just off Leith Walk In Edinburgh Leith Walk Is one of the Major thoroughfares And it's a busy road There's a lot of Road traffic There's a lot of Noise on the street And at the end of my street I own a street There's Pilrig Church With a clock And that clock Chimes the hour Every hour On the hour But during the day You never hear it It was only late at night Or early in the morning That you heard the clock Chime Because the noise Of the city Was so loud At other times That you just never heard it But late at night Early in the morning You heard it Every hour On the hour And that's what The voice of God Is like God is constantly Speaking He's speaking In this creation He's showing you His glory And His majesty In the hills In the sea In the beauty That surrounds us So we're told

[31:43] That the creation Itself speaks He also speaks Through the events Of life Through the providence That we experience He speaks to us In the joys He also speaks To us in the sorrows And He speaks With particular clarity When we hear His word When we read it Or when we hear it read Or when we hear it preached So God is constantly Speaking But very often The noise Of the world Is turned up So high That we don't Hear His voice We don't know That He is speaking And as it were Those hours Where the clock Is chiming And you just Don't hear The clock And the bells Him that hear it Say come And then the invitation Goes on To make clear That And let him That is a thirst Come If you're thirsty Meaning You need help You need comfort You need sustenance

[32:44] You need strength If you're weak If you're weary If you're thirsty Oh you're welcome too You don't need To be well fed You don't need To be Your thirst To be quenched To come God is speaking To those Who are weary And thirsty Those for whom Life has worn them down And worn them out So if you hear God speaking You can come You hear God's word You're under the sound Of His voice You're invited by Him You have every right To accept His invitation And if you're thirsty If you recognize That you simply Need Him You need help You're not really sure Exactly what the problem is You might not be sure Exactly what the solution is But you know That this life Has left you tired Weary And worn down And the last phrase

[33:44] That we see here And whosoever will Let him take The water of life freely So the one who hears The one who thirsts And the one who wills The one who desires The one who would love To enjoy new life The one who longs To experience new hope New fulfillment New purpose New satisfaction Whether I work In the community Or in the local prison I meet so many people Their dreams Have been shattered Their best days Are long behind them Relationships Friendships Family There are complexities That are beyond imagining And there's a longing You see we're all longing For something We're longing To be loved And to love We're longing To belong We're longing

[34:45] To be part Of something bigger A big family A community A relationship It was said Many years ago The writer Was Augustine He was writing His autobiography And in the opening Paragraph He said Lord You have made us For yourself And our hearts Are restless Until they find Rest in you There is a God shaped Hole In each of our hearts That can only be filled By the one Who created us By the one Who in Jesus Christ Redeemed us He is speaking To you and to me He's saying If you hear His voice You can come He's saying If you need help You can come And if you simply Desire This free gift Of the water Of life It's yours For the asking So this final invitation

[35:46] Is couched On the last page Of the Bible But we read earlier Chapter 55 And I'd like just to turn there For a moment Because throughout The scriptures God is constantly Speaking He's constantly Exhorting He's constantly Inviting The note of Welcome Is sounded From the beginning To the end Remember Even when Adam was hiding God says Where are you?

[36:16] It was a word Intended to attract Adam's attention We turn to Chapter 55 And if you remember Those The verse That we read From the last Chapter of Revelation Spirit and the bride Say come Let him that heareth Say come Him who is a thirsty Let him come And him who wills Let him take The free gift Of the water Of life Chapter 55 And I love The authorized version Captures this greatly Ho Every one That thirsteth This Little word Ho Is a word That was used In the ancient Marketplace You see In the ancient Marketplace There's a lot Of traders There's a lot Of vendors People are Selling their Wears And they want To attract The attention Of potential Customers In Philadelphia Near where I Come from They don't say Ho Their word Is yo

[37:16] So if you're At the Philadelphia Phillies Or the Philadelphia Eagles If you're at a Sporting event The vendor Very simply Will say Yo Followed by Whatever product He has Yo Beer Yo Pret You get the idea But it's not said In kind of a Soft reserve tone The vendor Raises his voice Because he wants Potential customers To know If they're thirsty He has beer If they're hungry He has pretzels And he's willing To provide them But this is where The illustration Fails Because these Vendors Are looking for Customers Who are not only Thirsty and hungry But they're looking For customers Who have money God Is looking for Customers Who have no money These are If you're a Shopkeeper These are not The people you Want in your shop These are not The customers You're looking for Customers who Would gladly Have the product But not pay The price Ho everyone

[38:17] That thirsteth Come ye to the Waters He that hath no money He that hath no money Would say Please don't come No He that hath no money Come Buy and eat Come buy wine And milk Without money And without price What kind of Vendor is this What kind of Shop is this What kind of Invitation is this Because We're so Accustomed If you want You buy And depending Depending on How valuable Something is The higher The cost The higher The value The higher The price The more You pay But God Says he has Something for Us And there is No cost And what's More he says The problem That we have Is that we are Spending our Money Spending our Time And spending Our lives On those Things Which are Not bread Which do Not satisfy He said He wants Our souls To delight In the Richest Of food

[39:18] Or as it Says here To delight Itself In fatness I'm sorry If I use Too many Food Illustrations But generally Speaking If you haven't Noticed this If you go To a restaurant The further You go down The menu At least this Is true In the United States The further You go down The menu The richer The fair There's a Particular dish That I like And it's Called surf And turf Surf would Often mean Lobster And turf Would mean Fillet steak And this Particular dish Puts those Two together But that Dish is always At the bottom Of the menu And I remember As a kid Dad would Always point My sister And I To the top Of the menu Those less Expensive Items On the menu Maybe parents Do the same God is saying Here's the menu And the best Of food Is at the bottom And the cost Is free It's available For you

[40:19] You don't need To pay You don't need To have the Resources God wants you To enjoy Not life Of bread And water He wants you To enjoy Life that is Filled With joy And with happiness He doesn't want You to have Less of a life Jesus says He's come Remember those Words in John 10 10 He said The thief Comes Only to steal Kill And destroy I have Come That they May have Life And have It more Abundantly Isaiah says To his audience I've got the Best of the Best folks You've been Spending all Your time And all Your money On those Things which Are not Bread Those things Which do Not satisfy And God Says Here is an Open invitation To enjoy The finest Of the Finest The best Of the Best And you Don't need Any resources You don't Need Any money I can't Explain it But I know It's true I can't

[41:20] Explain why God does What he Does I can't Explain how God does What he Does But I Can tell You What he Does That he Invites People like Us To him He wants Us to Enjoy The best Of life He not Only wants Us to Enjoy The best Of life Here That's What John 10 10 Says He says He has Another Gift John 10 28 He says I Have Come That They May Have Eternal Life I Give Them Eternal Life And No One Can Snatch Them Out Of My Hand Two Gifts Life That's Abundant And Life That's Eternal But There's No Cost Or Rather There Is A Cost But The Cost Has Already Been Paid The Price That Has Already Been Settled The Debt Has Been Covered By Another This Is What Jesus Has Done He's Paid The Price

[42:20] So That All That We Require All That We Need All That We Are Ultimately Looking For Has Now Been Provided Fully And Freely In The Gospel That's Why We Call It Good News Because We Have Nothing We Have Nothing To Offer God We Have Nothing To Promise We Can't Bring Him Anything We Can Simply Say Lord I'm Thirsty I Need Something To Drink Lord I'm Hungry I Need Something To Eat Lord I'm Looking For Desiring Meaning And Purpose And Fulfillment I Haven't Found It But You're Telling Me That You're Offering It To Me For Nothing And I Gladly And Willingly Accept Your Invitation Verse Three Again That Image Of Hearing Incline Your Ear Come Unto Me And Come Unto Me Hear And Your Soul

[43:20] Shall Live And I Will Make An Everlasting Covenant With You Even The Sure Mercies Of David God Is Willing To Make An Everlasting Covenant And Agreement Whereby The Benefits And The Blessings That Come To Us Will Never!

[43:37] Ever End You See He Has Infinite Resources He Has Infinite Mercy He Has Infinite Grace And He Looks Upon Us With Affection He Looks Upon Us With Care He Sees People Who Are Laboring He Sees People Who Are Spending Their Energy Who Are Expending Their Resources And Never Finding Never Finding That Which Fulfills Never Receiving That Which Satisfies And He Says Find Your Ear Hear What Jesus Is Saying But Not Only Hear It But Heed It You Know Sometimes We All Do This We Hear What Someone Is Saying But We Pay No Attention We Hear What We Hear The Voices Telling Us What To Do Or What Not To Do We've Heard But We Don't Pay Any Attention And We Can Hear God's Word But Never Heed God's Word Isaiah Goes On To Say Verse

[44:38] Five He Says! Thou Shalt Call A Nation That Thou Knowest Not And Nations That Know Not The Shall Run Unt The Because Of The Lord Thy Hath Glorified The God Is Calling People Who Do Not Know Him God Is Calling Nations And Peoples On This World That Have Never Heard Him Before And He's Calling Them To Himself And He's Calling Us To Himself We May Know Something About God We May Know Something About His Word We May Know Something About Jesus But If We Don't Know Him We Are In The Same!

[45:20] Category Know Him Not And Yet He's Calling Us He's Inviting Us There Was A Scene This Was Many Years Ago A Young Man I Think He's Fifteen At The Time It Was A Winter's Day Just Outside Of London And Essex He Couldn't Even Make It To His Ordinary Church Because The Weather Was So Bad But He Went To This Methodist Church And The Only Thing He Knew About And The Elder Who Took The Service The Minister Wasn't Able To Make It So One Of The Elders Took The Service And He Read From Isaiah Chapter 45 Verse 22 Look Unto Me And Be Ye Saved All The Ends Of The Earth For I Am God And There Is None Else Look And Live Hearken Hear And Listen Respond And Receive And That Young Man Age 15 Look God

[46:22] Used That Young Man As A Minister Later In The City Of London He Was The Minister Of The Metropolitan Tabernacle New Park Street Chapel Charles Haddon Spurgeon And This Man Who Looked And Lived Was Thereby An Instrument In Others!

[46:39] Looking And Living Others! Hearing And Responding You See The Message Is Not Do And Live The Message Is Not! Give And Live The Message Look To Him Look To God Look To Jesus When You Look You Live In Chapter 55 Verse 6 Seek Ye The Lord While He May Be Found Call Ye Upon Him While He Is Near God Is Findable God Is Present God Is Near He Is Not Far God Is Visible In The Sense That He Is Not!

[47:19] Hiding He He Jesus You Will Not Be Disappointed Or Discouraged Let The Wicked Forsake His Way And The Evil Man His Thoughts And Let Him Return Unto The Lord And He Will Have Mercy Upon Him And To Our God For He Will Abundantly Or Freely Pardon You Notice in Revelation We're Told That There Is The Free Gift Of The Water Of Life And We're Told Here In Isaiah 55 Verse 7

[48:20] That There Is A Full And Free Pardon Back In One Of The First News Events That I Was Able To Remember In The Early 1970s President Nixon Had To Resign Because Of The Water Gate Scandal Very Soon After His Resignation His Successor President Ford Issued A Full And Unconditional Pardon That Richard Nixon From The Date Of His Inauguration To The Date Of His Resignation That He Was Offered A Full And Free Pardon For Anything He Did Might Have Done Or May Have Contributed To A Complete Pardon For All Crimes Misdemeanors And President Nixon Accepted The Pardon And Thereby Was Freed From All Possible Prosecution Prosecution Or Criminal Action The Pardon That We Receive From God Is Full And

[49:20] Free And Unconditional The Thoughts The Words The Actions The Things That We've Done That We So Desperately Wish We Could Undo And Those Things That We Wish We Had Said Those Things That We Wish We Had Done A Full Free And Unconditional Pardon Is Offered To Us So Whatever Image Captures Your Attention Water For The Thirsty Food For The Hungry Pardon For The Guilty!

[49:51] God Is Saying To Us That There Is A Free Gift That Is Given Freely And Received Freely The Only Terms Are This Now You're Telling Me The Terms Now You're Telling Me The There Is There Is Small!

[50:06] Print There Is Fine Print Well I Guess Yes There Are Terms And Conditions But They're Actually Quite Simple You See When Jesus Preached Jesus Unlike Many Of His Successors As Preachers Jesus Sermons Tended To Be Short And Sharp At The Beginning Of Mark Chapter One And I'll Just Read It Here Because It's Just A Couple Verses In Mark Chapter One Jesus First Sermon Was Captured So Clearly So These These Are His Words Now That John Was Put In Prison Jesus Came Into Galilee Preaching The Gospel Of The Kingdom Of God And Saying The Time Is Fulfilled The Kingdom Of God Is At Hand Repent Ye And Believe The Gospel Repent And Believe Turn And Believe And This Motion Is One Motion You See Repenting And Believing Is Two Ways Of Describing The Same Thing!

[51:04] Turn From Sin And Believing Means Turn To God And That's Just Two Ways Of Describing The Same Motion And That's Why We Are Told That The Wicked Must Forsake His Way The Unrighteous Man His Thoughts We Must Return To The Lord Because If We Are Moving Away From God We Need To Stop Turn Around!

[51:25] Stop! And Turn Around That's Repentance And That's Faith We Turn From Sin We Turn To Jesus We Don't Do That Before Coming To Jesus We Do That In Coming To Jesus So I Want To Encourage You Tonight That There Is A Message Of Good News A Message Of Hope A Message Of Comfort An Offer Of Food To The Hungry An Offer Of Water To The Thirsty An Offer Of Life To The Dying An Offer Of Pardon To The Guilty That Is Full And Free It's Offered Freely It's Received Freely At The Bottom Of Every Invitation That I Received For Weddings Are Those Four Letters RSVP Believe It's Responding Who Seemed Play But Please Respond Let Us Know If You're Coming And You'll Have A Phone Number Or Email Address Or Address And You Respond By Saying I Am

[52:25] Delighted To Say That I Am Coming Or I Regret To Say I Am Not Able To Attend Jesus Christ The Son Of God Is Inviting You To A Banquet He's Inviting You To A Gift Called Eternal Life And He Wants You To Hear He Wants You To Respond But He Needs To Know If You're Coming Please Could Anyone Say Thank You Very Much I Heard An Invitation Delivered On The Evening Of April 20 April 20 2025 He Invited Me To The Wedding Feast Of The Lamb And I Would Like To Let You Know That I Am Delighted To Come That's The Response That God Is Looking For He's Inviting You To A Celebration Concerning His Son And He Wants You To Come You Don't Need To Bring Anything You Don't Need To Add Anything He Wants You To Accept His Invitation To Come To The Wedding

[53:25] Feast Of His Son Could You Imagine The President's Invitation To The White House I Am Sorry Your Majesty But I Am Not Able To Come I Am Sorry Mr.

[53:41] President But I Am Not Able To Attend But could you imagine saying to God himself, you've invited me to the banquet concerning your son, but I'm afraid I'm not able to attend.

[53:53] Let me just read those words again at the end of our Bible. As it was, God wants you to know as you get to the end of the story. If you get to the end of the story and you still haven't replied, there is one final opportunity.

[54:08] The spirit and the bride say, come. And let him that heareth say, come. And let him that is a thirst come. And whoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

[54:22] An open invitation given to you to trust in Jesus Christ. You will find satisfaction for your thirst. You will find fulfillment and joy if you hear, if you thirst, and if you desire.

[54:36] You are welcome to come. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son.

[54:51] We have read your word. We have presented your invitation. We have heard that your word goes forth and never comes back empty. So we take you at your word this very moment.

[55:04] We ask, Lord, that you will do what you will do. That you will achieve what you will achieve. That you will honor your own commitment and promise. And that this word will go forth and not return empty.

[55:17] That this word will go forth and there will be those who hear this word. Who hear this invitation and who accept those terms and conditions. Turning from sin and turning to Jesus.

[55:30] Trusting in him. And therefore receiving the water of life freely. Therefore receiving this abundant pardon freely and fully in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[55:43] We recognize that we are weak. But we thank you that you are strong. We recognize that we are inconsistent. But we recognize and we give you thanks. That you are consistent, steadfast, reliable, and sure.

[55:58] And we come to you in that precious name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. We are going to close now with Psalm 126.

[56:09] Psalm 126. Which is a magnificent psalm of celebration. When Zion's bondage God turned back. As men that dreamed were we.

[56:20] Then filled with laughter was our mouth. Our tongue with melody. Psalm 126. To the praise of God. When Zion's bondage God turned back.

[56:38] As men that dreamed were we. Then filled with laughter was our mouth.

[56:54] Our tongue with melody. In what the reason said the Lord.

[57:06] Great things for them have brought. The Lord hath done great things for us.

[57:20] And joy to God is brought. The Lord hath done great things for us. The sons of water in the south.

[57:34] Our bondage for free love Is so in tears every time Of joy and joy they shall God's man who made a senselessly In going forth the morn In doubtless bringing back His sheep's Rejoicing shall return Let us close in prayer. Let us pray.

[58:27] And now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, The love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit Rest upon, abide with us all, Both this day and evermore. Amen.