It's on page 742 if you're using a church Bible.
And Isaiah 55, we're going to look at half of Isaiah 55 this morning, and then on the
second of January, as we start into a new year, we're going to look at the second part.
So we're going to go to verses, to verse 5, and the first reading is Isaiah 55, starting
at verse 1, page 742.
Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters, and you who have no money, come, buy
and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest affair.
Give ear and come to me.
Hear me, that your soul may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.
See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples.
Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten
to you because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with
splendour.
Keep your finger in Isaiah 55, and then turn to John's Gospel, chapter 6, which is on page
1070.
John chapter 6, it's on page 1070, starting at verse 25 through to 40.
Verse 25.
When they found Jesus on the other side of the lake, they asked him, Rabbi, when did you
get here?
Jesus answered, I tell you the truth, you are looking for me not because you saw the miraculous
signs, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.
Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son
of Man will give you, on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.
Then they asked him, what must we do to do the works God requires?
Jesus answered, the work of God is this, to believe in the one he has sent.
So they asked him, what miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe
you?
What will you do?
Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert, as it is written, he gave them bread from heaven
to eat.
Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from
heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
Sir, they said, from now on give us this bread.
Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life.
He who comes to me will never go hungry.
He who believes in me will never be thirsty.
But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive
away.
For I have come down from heaven not to do my will, but to do the will of him who sent
me.
And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given
me, but raise them up on the last day.
For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal
life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
Well, let's pray together.
Our Father, we thank you for the food and drink that we have had already today.
But we come now to you, to the true food, asking that you would fill us and satisfy us, that
your Holy Spirit would be present amongst us, enabling us to comprehend your word, but also
that it would work in our lives, changing us and transforming us, helping us to see that
you are the hope for this world.
That Christ is the true gift, the only gift that really satisfies.
So please help us all, we ask in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well, there are notes going around, but the title I have given to this first part of Isaiah
55 is Christmas, Hope for the Hopeless.
Two years ago we were sitting on the brink of economic meltdown.
Financial institutions were closing, banks were calling in their debts, panic set in, the
markets got nervous, and the world as we know it went into recession.
If we were unaware of what that meant, last week's budget has made it very personal and
real.
The other Tuesday our finance minister, Brian Lenehan, stood up in the door and he gave a very
brave and determined budget speech.
Let me quote to you.
This has been a traumatic and worrying time for the citizens of our country.
They are concerned that we had to seek external support to help us with our economic and financial
difficulties.
They are worried about the impact of this momentous and difficult decision on their lives.
Yet, in fact, even in the most intractable and complex crisis, there are clear signs of
hope.
And then he concludes.
We have been through a tumultuous two years.
Today's budget is our first step in ensuring that we get back firmly on our own feet.
We can emerge from this dark time as a stronger and fitter economy.
There is every reason to be confident about the future of this economy and this country if
we only have confidence in ourselves.
Fighting talk, we might say.
Big promises.
Can they deliver?
Well, we'll all have to wait and see.
But without a doubt we can say that the people of our nation are desperate for hope.
It is dark times.
It is difficult times.
And people are desperate for hope.
I want you to imagine the doll tomorrow morning.
Brian Cowan has just delivered his speech, which has been followed by members of the opposition.
And then the proceedings are interrupted by a voice up in the balcony.
And at first everybody tries to ignore it, but then they are captured by its message.
Come, all you who are thirsty.
Come to the waters.
You who have no money.
Come, buy and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
Could you imagine?
I'm sure they struggle to comprehend what's going on.
But the message they would see is clear.
It's a message of hope.
It talks of restoration.
It's promising something good.
In fact, we know it is a message of salvation.
Isaiah, the prophet, who lived 750 years before the birth of Christ,
was called by God.
And he was called to speak into a nation that was quite literally without hope.
He spoke to a people who were living in darkness.
After years of turning and running from God, they were now in exile,
overpowered and run by another nation, Babylon.
Babylon.
We've heard of the four-year recovery plan.
Isaiah 55 is God's recovery plan.
Not just for Israel, who are in Babylon,
but for us and for the world in which we live.
It's a recovery plan that's become a reality through the birth of Jesus Christ,
the long-awaited Messiah,
the rescuing ruler who comes to offer hope to the world.
His recovery plan can be seen in three steps.
The first step is one of invitation.
Look at verse 1.
Come, all you who are thirsty.
Come to the waters.
Come on.
Come and buy and eat.
Come and buy your wine and milk.
Now we'll see what we are invited to in a minute,
but let's not miss the extent of this invitation.
This is an invitation that is to everyone.
Come, all you who are thirsty.
But in particular, it's an invitation to those who are broken and weak.
It's to those who have nothing and who are desperately in need.
I love getting invites to celebrations,
but there is nothing worse than being the only person who doesn't get that invite,
being left out.
Well, here is an invitation.
God's invitation to the nation.
It's open.
It's not exclusive.
It's to all.
And if anything, it favours the most needy.
It reaches out to those who think themselves beyond recovery,
and it says to those people especially,
you can come.
But what are we invited to?
Well, it's not so much what we are invited to,
but who we are invited to.
Look at the middle of verse 2.
It says,
Listen.
Listen to me.
Verse 3.
Give ear and come to me.
Hear me.
Who is this me that they are invited to?
Well, keep your finger, please, in Isaiah 55,
and go to John's Gospel,
chapter 1,
and verse 1.
This me is an invite to come to the Lord Jesus.
Chapter 1, verse 1 says,
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
Then in verse 14,
The Word became flesh,
and made his dwelling among us.
The Word that spoke,
and offered the invitation,
the invitation to come,
that Word that spoke,
came into the world
to become like one of us.
Christ came into the world,
and invited us to come,
and to receive from him.
Flick over a bit further
to chapter 7
of John's Gospel.
Chapter 7, verse 37.
It says,
On the last day,
verse 37,
of the last and greatest day
of the feast.
The feast here
is known as the Feast of Tabernacles,
or booths.
It was an eight-day feast,
eight days of celebration,
when the people of Israel,
literally,
went camping in their back garden.
They would set up tents,
and everybody would move into their tents,
and they would live in these tents
for eight days
to remind themselves
of the great escape from Egypt,
and how God provided for them
all the way through the wilderness.
And one of the great events
through that wilderness journey
was when Moses took his staff
and he hit the rock
because they had no water,
they were thirsty,
and water flowed from it.
And so Jesus says,
verse 37,
On the last and greatest day
of this feast,
Jesus stood up
and said in a loud voice,
If anyone is thirsty,
let him come to me
and drink.
You see,
this message
in Isaiah 55,
to come and listen
to me,
is the invite
of the Lord Jesus
to come to me,
to come to him.
And I'm sure
we're all going to get
lots of invites
this Christmas
to people's houses
and to various parties.
Well, we must not forget
that Christmas
is the ultimate invitation.
It is an invite
to the world
to say to people,
come to Jesus.
Because Jesus
has come into the world
for you
and for me,
for the nations,
and he wants us
to come to him.
Listen,
listen to me.
Give ear
and come
to me.
But what
and why
is this invitation
so special?
Well,
the second step
after invitation
is salvation.
salvation.
It is an invitation
to salvation.
Look at the end
of verse 1
of Isaiah 55.
It says,
You who have no money,
come buy and eat.
Come buy wine
and milk
without money
and without cost.
The end of verse 2.
And your soul
will delight
in the richest
of fair.
prayer.
This is an invitation
to a feast.
To drink
and to eat
till you have your fill.
And whenever we come
across this
in the scriptures,
whenever there's an invitation
to drink
and to eat,
it's always a metaphor
for life
and for salvation.
Again,
look at the way
in which Jesus
takes these very images,
these very ideas,
and takes these words
to offer salvation
to people.
Go back to
John's Gospel,
chapter 4.
These are very
well-known stories.
The first one
in John's Gospel,
chapter 4,
is the woman
at the well.
Jesus is thirsty
and he's been asking
for a drink
and her dialogue
is there.
And then in verse 13,
Jesus answered,
everyone who drinks
this water
will be thirsty again.
But whoever drinks
the water I give him
will never thirst.
Indeed,
the water I give him
will become in him
a spring of water
welling up
to eternal life.
The invitation,
you see,
is Jesus to say,
come to me,
come and drink,
because what I give you
is true salvation.
Have a look at
chapter 6,
verse 32.
This is after the feeding
of the 5,000.
So he likens
the water
as salvation.
He likens
the bread
as salvation.
Verse 32,
chapter 6,
Jesus said to them,
I tell you the truth,
it is not Moses
who has given you
the bread for heaven,
but it is my Father
who gives you
the true bread
from heaven.
For the bread of God
is he
who comes down
from heaven
and gives life
to the world.
Sir,
they said,
from now on
give us this bread.
Jesus answered,
I am
the bread of life.
He who comes to me
will never go hungry.
He who believes
in me
will never
be thirsty.
Can we see
how this is an invitation
to come to Christ?
An invitation
to salvation,
to find life
in all its fullness.
But let's notice
from Isaiah 55
two things
about this salvation.
First,
it's free.
In verse 1
of 55
it says,
you who have
no money
got nothing
in your wallets,
in your bank accounts,
come buy and eat
without money
and without cost.
Now we know
fine well
that if we're going
to enjoy Christmas
as the world says,
we've got to
spend our money.
As much as
our purse
strings
have tightened,
we've all got to
part with our cash
to get what we want.
The saying is true,
there is nothing free.
except
God's offer
of salvation.
That
is free.
We can't
offer anything
for God's salvation.
We can't
negotiate
on the price.
We can't
bargain with him
because there
is no price
because
Jesus has
paid
the price.
He paid
the price
with his own
life
on the cross.
And so
Jesus has
made this gift
freely available
to all
who will
come to him
and receive
the life
that he
has to give.
So it's free
but it's also
fulfilling.
Look at verse 2.
He asks the question
and it's a searching
question,
why spend money
on what is not
bread
and your labor
on what does
not satisfy?
one commentator
has helped
me
pointed out
that when
Israel went
into exile
they were not
only moving
physically
from Judah
to Babylon
they were
moving away
spiritually.
They were moving
away from God
and in an attempt
to fill the void
to fill the gut
they immersed
themselves into
the culture
that was in Babylon.
they filled
themselves with
the religion
that they found
there.
They filled
themselves with
the gods
that were there.
They just
imbibed the
whole culture
but it left
them empty
and unfulfilled
and so these
are the words
that are being
spoken into
these unfulfilled
unsatisfied
people.
And I think
it's just so
true of our
own nation
and perhaps
in our own
lives.
We try to
find our
satisfaction
and our
fulfilment
outside of
God.
Outside of
Christ.
And in the
recession and
in the
struggles
people will
say if only
I had a bit
more money.
If only I
could get
another job
that was a
little bit
more stable.
If only we
could get out
of this
recession.
If only I
could get
this.
If only I
could have
that.
You fill in
the gap for
yourself.
If only I
could have.
Then everything
would be so
much better.
But whatever
we turn to,
whatever we
fill our
lives with,
this is a
reminder to
say that it
will never
truly satisfy.
Look at the
end of verse
two.
Listen.
Listen to
me.
Eat what
is good
and your
soul will
delight in
the richest
affair.
Give ear and
come to
me.
Hear me
that your
soul may
live.
As much
as there is
a recession,
we do see
people going
mad, buying
this, that
and the
other.
People will
be getting
these gifts
and that
gift.
They'll be
eating far
too much,
drinking far
too much.
The days
will go by
and then
people will
be looking
for more
food and
more things.
Presents
will break,
there'll be
more things
that they'll
want in life.
But it
never truly
satisfies.
The reminder
of Christmas
is to say
that the
ultimate
Christmas
promise,
the ultimate
gift,
is that we
will never
thirst again,
we will
never go
hungry,
because we
have everything
that we
need in
Christ.
It's a big
searching
question.
Why spend
money on
what is not
bread?
Why give
our lives
to things
that are
never going
to truly
satisfy?
Come to
Christ,
because in
him we have
everything that
we need.
Let me read
to you a
quote.
There is a
Narnia film
coming out in
the cinemas.
This is a
quote from
The Silver
Chair.
Jill, the
character, has
just entered
into Narnia,
and she's
incredibly
thirsty.
She hears
the sound
of a stream,
and she
makes her
way to
the stream,
and as she
gets to
the stream,
she's
confronted
with Aslan,
the lion.
Are you
thirsty?
said the
lion.
I'm dying
of thirst,
said Jill.
Then drink,
said the
lion.
May I?
Could I?
Would you
mind going
away while I
do?
said Jill.
The lion
answered this
only by a
look and a
very low
growl,
and as
Jill gazed
at its
motionless
bulk,
she realised
that she
might as
well have
asked the
whole mountain
to move
aside for
her convenience.
The delicious
rippling noise
of the
stream was
driving her
nearly frantic.
Will you
promise not
to do
anything to
me if I
do come?
said Jill.
I make
no promise,
said the
lion.
Jill was
so thirsty
now that,
without noticing
it, she
had come a
step nearer.
Do you
eat girls?
she said.
I have
swallowed up
girls and
boys, women
and men, kings
and emperors,
cities and
realms, said
the lion.
It didn't say
this as if it
were boasting,
nor as if it
were sorry, nor
as if it were
angry.
It just said
it.
I daren't
come and
drink, said
Jill.
Then you
will die
of thirst,
said the
lion.
Oh dear,
said Jill,
coming another
step nearer.
I suppose I
must go and
look for
another stream
then.
There is
no other
stream,
said the
lion.
It's a
question to
ask us
all, where
will we
go to
find life?
What do
you pursue
to quench
your thirst?
What do
you want to
fill your
life with?
What do
other people
want to
fill their
life with?
There is
only one
stream that
we are
invited to,
that is the
stream of
Jesus Christ.
And Christmas
is that
invitation for
us to come
and drink of
that salvation.
And what
Jesus offers,
we will find
nowhere else.
Come is the
invitation,
to come to
Christ,
to come and
find his
salvation.
But there's
one more
step in
this process,
because it's
not just a
recovery for
us individually,
this is to
be a recovery
plan for the
whole world.
The third
step I've
called
transformation,
verse 3.
Give ear and
come to
me.
Hear me
that your
soul may
live, and
I will make
an everlasting
covenant with
you, my
faithful or
steadfast love
promised to
David.
David, of
course, was the
greatest king
that Israel ever
had.
But the
mention of
David, we
should know,
was always
synonymous with
the expectation
of a coming
Messiah.
To mention
David, who
had been all
those years
ago, was a
promise that
God was going
to raise up a
new king, a
new kind of
leader.
So to those
who were in
exile at the
time, this
message to
come, to
come to the
king, was
one of hope
and peace and
restoration.
A king who
was going to
deliver everything
that God had
promised, pure
salvation.
And we know
that David was
a great leader
because it was
only under
David that the
whole nation
was ever united.
We also know
that he was a
great commander.
Look at verse
four.
See, I have
made him a
witness to the
peoples, a
leader and
commander of
the peoples.
The greatest
victories that
Israel had were
always under
David.
He was the
greatest leader,
the greatest
king that they
had ever known.
king.
And now it's
pointing forward
to a different
kind of king, a
new king, a
new messiah that
is going to
come.
The ultimate
leader, the
ultimate commander
who would be the
Lord Jesus
Christ.
The one who
would win the
greatest victory
on the cross.
The one who
would win the
victory over sin
and death.
death as he
took the
penalty, as he
defeated the
grave and rose
victoriously.
Here was the
greatest commander,
the greatest king
who came.
And here was the
greatest king who
would unite people
from all nations
and make them one
under his
lordship.
And so it's
saying to these
people here,
there is a
king and I
have made him a
witness to
people, a
leader and a
commander of the
people.
And when we
come to this
king, when we
accept his
invitation, when
we receive his
salvation, our
lives are
completely and
utterly transformed.
Look at the
end of verse
5 to see this
transformation.
The end of
verse 5 says,
for he has
endowed you
with splendour.
He has
beautified you
with splendour.
You see, the
salvation that
Christ brings is
nothing less than
absolute beauty.
Without Christ,
we are an
absolute mess.
But with
Christ in our
lives, we
are something
beautiful.
Look at the
contrast from
verse 1.
They were
thirsty, they
were hungry,
there was no
money, they
were unfulfilled,
unsatisfied, there
was nothing.
Now in verse 5,
it's completely
reversed.
They are
satisfied and
now they are
covered in
splendour.
From
paupers to
princes and
princesses, they
have now become
children of the
king.
They have been
given, as it
says at the
end of verse 2,
the richest
affair.
You see, the
salvation that
comes from
Jesus Christ,
our Messiah,
our king, is
full, it's
complete, it's
satisfying, it's
everything that we
need, and he
utterly changes us
and transforms us,
not bringing just
forgiveness, but
totally transforming
our lives so
that we are
something beautiful,
something that
God changes us
and makes us a
new creation, a
new kind of
people.
But there's a
whole reason for
this transformation,
there's a whole
reason for this
change, and we
see that at the
beginning of verse
5.
He says,
Surely you will
summon nations
you know not,
and nations that
do not know you
will hasten to
you.
Nations are going
to run to you.
You see, God's
plan for the
people of Israel
was that they
would be a
magnet, like a
people pulling the
surrounding nations
towards them to
draw them towards
God's salvation.
They were to be a
nation that was to
be the envy of all
the other nations,
so that as people
looked in on
Israel, they would
see what they had
from God, and they
would also want it.
They would want
this God too.
They were to be a
beautiful and
attractive nation
that had been so
transformed and so
changed that nations
that they didn't
know would come
running towards
them to get the
salvation that God
had.
Well, Christmas
reminds us.
that the King
has come, that
Jesus is the
beautiful one.
He is so
attractive.
He is the
sinless one, the
perfect one.
He is God's
Son, the God
Man, Jesus
Christ.
And the salvation
and the life that
he offers, as he
comes into the
world, he is like
the magnet.
He is the one who
draws people to
himself.
But the point I
think in these
verses here in
verse 5, is that
if we have
received the
salvation of
Jesus, we
become people who
are beautiful and
in turn our
lives are to
become an
attraction.
Our lives are to
be an attraction.
Growing up as a
kid, and I know
Kirsty always
laughs at this, but
we didn't have a
lot of money.
And I always found
myself wishing and
wanting the gifts that
all the other kids
have.
As they got on their
brand new BMX and I
hopped around to my
space hopper, I
wished that I had
what they had.
They always had the
best toys, the
better gifts.
They were the
envy.
I wanted what
they had.
And when we come
to see what
Christmas truly has
to offer, when we
come to see Christ
in all his beauty
and all his
wonder, when we
see the true
gift, when we
have the true
gift, others
will be wanting
what we have.
They will see in
us a life that
has been changed
and transformed,
a life that has
become beautiful,
a life that has
become so
attractive.
Do you see there
in verse 5?
Nations that you
do not know will
run to you.
People will come
to us.
They will see us
as a community of
people that have
been changed.
And they will be
drawn in by the
love.
They will be drawn
in by the forgiveness,
by the way in which
people repent towards
one another.
they will be
attracted because
Christ has changed
us.
You see, our
nation is desperate
for hope.
We long for the
new year.
We long for a new
election, a new
government, someone
or something who's
going to make it all
better, to make it
all go away.
We long for the
good old days of
Charlie McCreevey,
the Santa Claus of
budgets, who gave
presents beyond our
wildest dreams.
But we all know now
that it wasn't
without cost.
We're having to pay
for it.
And the reality was
it never filled,
it never satisfied,
satisfied.
It has left people
hungry and thirsty.
They have delved
in to try and find
what's satisfied,
and it never
delivered.
In Christmas, we
have the greatest
invitation, an
invitation to take
the greatest gift,
the gift of Jesus
Christ, the ultimate
King who offers
pure salvation, a
gift that is so
beautiful and so
attractive that if we
would only open it,
if we would learn
to enjoy it, if we
would learn to be
thirsty and hungry,
and only be
satisfied by Christ,
then people will
see within us an
attraction, they
will see Christ, and
they will be drawn
to him.
And the reality is,
is what we're
saying is that because
of Christ, because of
our message, because
of our lives, we
bring the message of
hope to the
hopeless world.
We have got
something to say to
people.
May God give us the
courage and the
strength to live out
this hope and to
speak his hope to a
needy world.
let's pray together.
Amen.
We thank you, Father
God, that you did
send your son,
that you didn't wait
for an invitation from
us, but that you
took the initiative,
and that you
entered into our
world, into all its
mess and all its
darkness, into its
sin.
And you came like
one of us and
invited us to come
to you.
forgive us for the
times where we
reject that invitation
when we run from
you, where we go
chasing our own
dreams and our own
ideas.
Turn our hearts that
we would ever run to
you, that we would
always find everything
that we need in you,
that you would create a
genuine thirst and
hunger within us,
create a thirst and a
hunger within this
community, that
draws them and has
them running to
Christ, that they
will never find or
never rest until they
do come to you.
We pray, Father, that
you would help us to
enjoy you, to know
you, and we pray that
you would give us
courage to speak the
hope that only Christ
can bring into a
hopeless and needy
world.
We pray these things
in Jesus' name.
Amen.