And ordinarily what we do is we work our way through books of the Bible.
So we just finished up walking through the book of Titus together.
Last week, if you remember, we spent nine weeks together walking through the book of Titus,
passage by passage by passage.
And if you are wondering how long is it going to take us to work our way through 66 chapters of Isaiah,
I have good news for you.
Don't fear.
We're not going from chapter 1 all the way through to chapter 66.
We're just going to focus in on one chapter.
For six weeks, we're going to be spending our time in chapter 55 of Isaiah,
this one beautiful chapter in this Old Testament prophecy, Isaiah chapter 55.
So if you would, go ahead and open up your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 55.
And we're going to look at verses 1 through 3 this morning.
If you're using the pew Bibles there in front of you, if you don't have your own Bible,
you can find that on page 576 of the pew Bibles there in front of you.
Either way, you'll want to have a Bible open because that's what I'm going to be reading and preaching from.
And I would like for your eyes to be there on God's word.
Isaiah 55 verses 1 through 3.
Follow along with me as I read.
Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters.
And he who has no money, come, buy and eat.
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear and come to me.
Hear that your soul may live.
Let's pray once more.
God, this invitation is beyond our greatest imagination.
Father, that we would be invited to come and to delight ourselves in you and be satisfied.
I pray, Father, that as this word is opened and preached,
even now, God, would you give us appetite for you and your glory.
We pray this in Christ's name.
Amen.
One of my favorite movies growing up was Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
And it's amazing how when you look back on these themes of certain movies from a Christian perspective,
how much they rob, how much they steal from the story, the gospel.
You remember the story?
Charlie Bucket is a poor boy who lives on the outskirts of town
with about 100 of his family members who apparently all share one bed for some reason.
They're just dirt poor.
And every day on the way to and from school,
Charlie Bucket passes by Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.
This ginormous, mysterious chocolate factory has been closed down to the public.
Nobody knows exactly what is going on in there.
Until one day, Willy Wonka decided to run a contest.
And, of course, as you know, he hid five golden tickets,
tucked them away inside the candy wrappers of the chocolate bars.
And whoever bought the right bar, whoever got the golden ticket,
would be welcome.
They could come join him in his chocolate factory,
not only for a guided tour of the factory by Mr. Wonka himself,
but they would also receive a lifetime supply of Willy Wonka chocolate products.
As every kid's dream, right?
A lifetime supply, full access to feast on whatever candy you want,
whenever you wanted, brought to you by the candy maker himself.
Well, what they didn't know was that Wonka was not just giving away chocolate.
He had planned, secretly, he had planned to give away the whole factory to the right child,
including his prized possession.
You remember what it was?
The everlasting gobstopper.
As this one piece of candy that would last forever,
never lose its taste, never lose its flavor,
it would change flavors, change color, never lose its luster.
It was always satisfying.
And you can imagine how for a poor boy like Charlie,
something like this was almost unimaginable.
While other children bought up as many chocolate bars as they could find,
poor Charlie buckets couldn't afford much,
he'd be lucky just to get his hands on one.
And you know the story, he miraculously found a piece of money in a snowbank,
ran to the store, bought a chocolate bar, and rips it open,
and there it is, the last golden ticket.
It's his invitation to the chocolate factory.
And this was his access, his invitation to a world of never-ending delight
in this magical world of chocolate and mystery.
A poor, desperate boy is invited to everlasting joy beyond his wildest dreams.
This is the gospel according to Wonka.
Well, as we come to Isaiah chapter 55 this morning,
we see the gospel according to Isaiah.
This book is an Old Testament prophecy.
It was written to Old Testament Israel while they were in exile.
It was written about 700 years before Jesus Christ ever stepped foot on earth.
But did you know it's commonly referred to as the fifth gospel?
The fifth gospel.
There's Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and all the way back here is Isaiah.
In fact, if you only read your New Testament,
never even opened up your Old Testament, which I don't recommend that you do,
if you ignored your Old Testament entirely, only read your New Testament,
you would still be pretty familiar with the book of Isaiah.
And depending on who you ask and how you add it up,
some say that out of the New Testament's 260 chapters,
over 90% contain some reference to this fifth gospel,
some allusion, some reference, some direct quote from the book of Isaiah.
Our chapter this morning, chapter 55 of the book of Isaiah,
our chapter that we'll be studying for the next several weeks,
is towards the end of a section of scripture
that is just overflowing with the message of the gospel.
Chapter 53, you might know chapter 53 of Isaiah.
It's one of the most popular, well-known passages in the Old Testament.
Chapter 53 showed the suffering servant,
dying in the place of sinners,
bearing the sins of many.
Chapter 4 portrayed a renewed creation,
with renewed joy, renewed relationship with God,
on the basis of that servant's work.
And now chapter 55 is an invitation to come.
It's an invitation to come and to feast.
It's an invitation to enter into true and lasting satisfaction for your soul.
So this morning, we begin our study in Isaiah 55,
with this invitation to come and feast.
And what we'll see this morning is three parts of the gospel according to Isaiah.
Three parts of the gospel according to Isaiah.
If you're taking notes, I encourage you to do so,
and help you follow along.
Three parts of the gospel according to Isaiah.
Isaiah, we are needy,
we are invited,
and God alone can satisfy forever.
I'll say that again.
We are needy,
we are invited,
and God alone can satisfy forever.
Well, clearly this chapter is an invitation to a feast.
Fresh water,
fresh milk,
wine,
and bread,
rich food,
a satisfying food,
as much as you can handle.
But there's a prerequisite there,
isn't there?
And there's a requirement here.
In order to come and eat,
you must be hungry.
In order to come drink,
you must be thirsty.
He says,
in order to buy a ticket,
guess what?
You must be broke.
You must be poor.
You must be needy.
Look there to verse 1 with me.
He says,
Come,
everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters.
And he who has no money,
come buy and eat.
Come buy wine and milk,
without money,
and without price.
Price.
Now this is an invitation to the world's greatest feast.
And when we hear that,
our ears,
our mind,
immediately goes to cost.
How much does it cost?
What's the price of admission?
Or at the very least,
what can I bring to the table?
Can I bring something to contribute?
But we have to see here in verse 1,
a prerequisite of us coming to this feast
is that we bring nothing with us.
In fact,
we couldn't afford it if we tried.
Church,
this is the bad news
that must come before the good news
of the gospel.
This is what the gospel tells us.
It tells us that we are,
in and of ourselves,
every one of us,
apart from the grace of God,
spiritually broke.
We are bankrupt.
We are incapable of bringing anything good to the table.
We have nothing to offer.
And Ephesians tells us,
Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 2,
before God saved us in Christ,
we were dead in our trespasses and sins
in which we once walked.
Dead in our trespasses and sins.
Dead men don't eat.
Dead men don't cook.
Dead men don't bring anything to the table.
They are dead.
We have to understand this
before we get too far into this chapter
that he's making the point
we cannot buy our way.
We cannot earn our way.
We cannot work our way into this feast.
And that is exactly the point.
This feast is not for those
who are well-fed and rich.
It's not for those
who are satisfied already.
It is for those
who realize by the grace of God
that they are poor and needy.
We don't like to think of ourselves this way.
Do we?
We like to think of ourselves
as capable,
as worthy,
as respectable,
not needy.
But those put together,
well-resourced, well-fed people,
it's clear they cannot come.
They do not meet the qualifications.
The fact that they think they are qualified
makes them, in fact,
unqualified to come.
The Bible is clear.
It does not matter
how materially rich you are,
how well-respected,
how prosperous you are.
Spiritually speaking,
every one of us is broke.
And it is broken,
poor,
desperately needy people
that Jesus came to save.
Amen?
Amen.
This is what drove the Pharisees crazy,
isn't it?
The Pharisees,
you might remember,
they were the religious elite
in Jesus' day.
They were the teachers of the law.
They were masters of the word of God.
They were well-respected,
and they made sure
that they were well-respected.
And they could not stand
that when Jesus came,
he didn't really care too much
for their resumes.
He was not impressed
by their knowledge.
Instead, what Jesus did
was he went out to the fringes.
He went out to the poor
and to the marginalized.
He went to the rejected.
He went to the needy.
He spent his time with them.
And so he says things
like what Pete read for us earlier.
He says things like,
come to me,
all who labor
and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
That sounds an awful lot
like Isaiah 55, doesn't it?
Those who are tired,
those who are weary,
those who are weak,
those who are needy,
come to me.
Those who are thirsty,
come to me.
Those who are hungry,
come to me.
Those who are poor,
come to me.
He says things like,
blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst
for righteousness,
for they shall be what?
Satisfied.
He doesn't say,
blessed are those
who have it all together already.
Blessed are those
who are full of themselves.
Blessed are those
who don't need anything.
This bothered the Pharisees.
Because they were blind
to their own spiritual poverty.
And it really bothered them
when Jesus started spending
so much time with sinners.
I mean, how could he do this?
How could he go
and spend time with them?
You may remember the story
of when Jesus met
a tax collector named Levi
sitting at his tax booth.
Now there's a lot in the Bible
that doesn't exactly correlate
with our day and our time,
but one thing that hasn't changed
is people back then
hated paying taxes
as much as people now
hate paying taxes.
Levi was a tax collector.
People hated tax collectors.
These men would come
take your money
and often they would help themselves
to a little bit extra,
a little bit off the top,
so they would be rich
and they made sure
everybody else
was not as rich as them.
They were not
well-received people.
And so when Jesus came
to the tax collector Levi
in Luke chapter 5,
this righteous teacher
and this sinful thief,
and Jesus looked at him
and simply said,
come follow me.
What did Levi do?
He left everything
and followed him.
The Pharisees didn't like this.
But apparently Levi went
and told all his friends
because Luke 5 29,
it says,
Levi made him a great feast
in his house
and there was a large company
of tax collectors
and others
reclining at table
with them.
And the Pharisees
and their scribes
grumbled at his disciples
saying,
why do you eat and drink
with tax collectors
and sinners?
And Jesus answered them,
hear this,
those who are well
have no need
of a physician,
but those who are sick
I have not come
to call the righteous
but sinners
to repentance.
I have not come
to call the righteous
but sinners
to repentance.
Why do you eat
with tax collectors
and sinners?
Why would Jesus
come into the home
of a sinful man
and associate
with his rabble
of sinful people?
Why would he feast
with sinners?
If only the Pharisees
had studied Isaiah 55,
a little more closely,
they might have understood
they are the only ones
invited.
Jesus did not come
to call the righteous
but sinners
to repentance.
sins.
Now of course,
the Pharisees
were just as sinful
as anybody else.
They were plenty sinful
just like us.
The only difference
between them
and these other sinners
was that they
didn't think so.
They were blinded
to their sin.
They didn't realize
their thirst.
They didn't realize
their hunger.
They didn't realize
their poverty.
And so Jesus says,
before you come
and feast with me,
God says,
before you come
and feast on me,
you must recognize
your need.
You are a sinner
in great need
of a Savior.
One more example
from the book of Luke.
Chapter 18.
The parable of
the Pharisee
and the tax collector.
Luke says in verse 9,
chapter 18.
Jesus told this parable
to some who trusted
in themselves
that they were righteous
and treated other people
with contempt.
Okay, so you see
the audience here.
And he goes on
to tell this parable
of two men
going to the temple
to pray.
One of them
was a Pharisee,
this religious elite.
The other was
a tax collector,
a clear sinner.
And it says,
the Pharisee
prayed like this,
God, I thank you
that I am not
like other men.
extortioners,
unjust,
adulterers,
even like this
tax collector.
And he pulls out
his resume
for God to read.
He says,
I fast twice a week.
I give tithes
of all that I get.
God,
aren't I just awesome?
But the tax collector,
standing far off,
would not even
lift up his eyes
to heaven,
but beat his breast,
saying,
God,
be merciful to me,
a sinner.
Now here's
the most striking
part of this story.
Jesus says
in verse 14,
I tell you,
this man,
the sinner,
the tax collector,
this man,
went down
to his house
justified
rather than the other.
For everyone
who exalts himself
will be humbled,
but the one
who humbles himself
will be exalted.
Church,
which one
are we more like?
Before we step foot
into this great
feast of God
portrayed in Isaiah 55,
our hearts
must be humbled.
We must recognize
our need
and our poverty.
Do you see yourself
as righteous,
as more deserving
of the grace of God
than anybody else,
more deserving
of the presence of God
than anybody else?
The bad news
of the gospel
is we are
desperately sinful.
We bring nothing
good to the table.
Sinful beyond
our wildest imagination,
but the good news
of the gospel
is that that is
exactly who
Christ came to save.
which is the second
part of the gospel
according to Isaiah
this morning.
The second part
of the gospel
according to Isaiah.
We are invited.
The good news
of the gospel
for sinners
like us
is that we
are invited
to come.
Four times
in these three verses
we hear this
gospel invitation,
don't we?
It says,
come everyone
who thirsts,
come to the waters.
He who has no money,
come buy and eat.
And down in verse 3
he says,
incline your ear
and come to me.
Hear that your soul
may live.
Because,
chapter 53,
because he has
borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows.
Because he was
pierced for our
transgressions
and crushed
for our iniquities.
Because of the work
of Christ
on the cross,
we are invited
to come
and live.
This is what we call
the general call
of the gospel.
The general call
of the gospel.
The gospel message
is a promise
of eternal life.
It's a promise
of forgiveness
of sins,
everlasting joy
in the presence
of God
on the basis
of the work
of Christ,
his life,
his death,
his resurrection
received by grace
through faith.
It costs you nothing
because he has already
paid the price
of admission.
We simply must receive
it by faith
as a gift
by turning from our sin,
by trusting in
our Savior.
That's the gospel.
That's the gospel message.
And that invitation
to come to the Father
is broadly cast out,
generally, broadly,
into the ears
of any who would hear it.
Come.
Come to Christ.
Turn from your sin
and live.
Turn from your sin.
Trust in your Savior.
Come.
Have your sins forgiven.
Come.
Listen that your soul
may live.
But not everybody comes,
do they?
Only those who are
effectively called
will, in fact,
come to the Lord.
And that effectual call
where through the preaching
of the gospel,
through the extending
broadly of this invitation,
through our personal evangelism,
sinners hear the good news
of the gospel
and are spiritually reborn again
of His Spirit.
Regenerated.
Born again.
It is extended to all,
but sadly,
it is not received by all.
And that's where
our statement of faith,
we confess,
concerning the freeness
of salvation.
It reads like this.
We believe that salvation
is offered freely
to all in the gospel
and that it is the immediate
duty of all
to accept the gospel
by a humble,
repentant,
and obedient faith.
Hear this.
There is nothing
that prevents
the salvation
of the greatest sinner
on earth
but His own depravity
and voluntary rejection
of the gospel
which results
in just condemnation.
Jesus told another parable
in Matthew chapter 22.
of a rich king
who wanted to throw
a banquet.
He wanted to throw
a wedding feast
for his son.
And so he sent out
servants out
into the streets
to call those
who were invited
to come to the feast.
But they would not come.
So he sent more servants
out into the streets
and sent out the call,
the invitation,
come,
come celebrate,
come enjoy the food,
come enjoy the wine.
My son is getting married,
everything's ready,
come on,
come to the feast.
But again,
they paid
no attention
and went off
about their business.
They were too busy
to come.
In fact,
some were so bothered
by hearing this invitation
over and over
and over again
that they treated
the servants shamefully
and killed them.
So he says,
the king executed judgment.
He says,
he destroyed those murderers
and burned their city.
And then he sent
his servants again.
Go therefore
into the roads
and invite
to the wedding feast
as many as you can find.
And the servants
went out into the road
and gathered all they could,
both good and bad,
so that the wedding hall
was filled with guests.
Here's the sad reality,
church.
You can hear
the general call
of the gospel
time after time
after time
after time.
You can know it
inside and out.
You can come to church
every week
from the time you're one
to the time you're 101
and never actually come.
to Christ.
You must hear
the good news
in order to believe it,
but only hearing
this general call
of the gospel
will not save you.
You must come
to Christ.
So Jesus concludes
this parable
by saying,
many are called
generally,
but few
are chosen
effectively.
You must
come.
How do we do that?
How do we
come
and feast,
accept this invitation
to come
and delight ourselves
in the Lord?
He tells us,
doesn't He?
Isaiah.
In Isaiah 55.
It's by listening
and trusting
the Word of God.
By listening
and trusting
the Word of God.
It's not just
to hear,
it's to listen.
Verse 2,
Isaiah 55,
verse 2.
He says,
listen diligently
to me
and eat what is good.
Verse 3,
incline your ear
and come to me
here
that your soul
may live.
So how do we
come to the Lord?
It's by listening
diligently
to the Word of God.
How do we come
into the presence
of God?
How do we
enter into His presence
so that we might
satisfy our soul?
It is by feasting
on the Word
of God.
What does Jesus say?
Man does not live
by bread alone
but by every what?
Word.
From the mouth
of God.
Are any of you
spiritually dry?
Are any of you
spiritually hungry?
You're invited
to come
and to feast
on the Word of God.
Are you weary?
Are you thirsty?
Are you poor?
Are you needy?
Come and hear God speak.
Come that your soul
might live.
Do you want to know
God more?
Come and listen
to His Word.
Do you want to grow
as a disciple of Christ?
Do you want to grow
in your love for God
as His child?
Open up the book
and read.
But don't just hear it.
Church,
listen
diligently.
Listen
to your Father
speak
life-giving
words.
faith.
And then
go out into the streets
and invite others
to come feast
with us.
Faith comes through
hearing
and hearing
through the Word
of God.
What does Paul
say in Romans?
How then
will they call
on Him
in whom
they have not
believed?
How are they
to believe
in Him
of whom
they have never
heard?
And how are they
to hear
without someone
preaching?
And how are they
to preach
unless they
are sent?
Church,
we have been
sent.
Jesus Christ
commanded us,
go therefore
and make disciples
of all nations,
baptizing them
in the name
of the Father
and the Son
and the Holy Spirit,
teaching them
to observe
everything I have
commanded you
and lo,
I am with you
always,
even to the
uttermost ends
of the earth.
We have been
commissioned
to go out
into the streets
as His servants
and invite
as many as we
could find
to come feast
their souls
on the Word
of God.
Our privilege,
church,
as God's ambassadors
is to be the
mouthpiece
of this invitation.
This invitation
in Isaiah 55.
We don't know
who the Lord
will call
effectively
unto salvation,
but we do know
how they will
come.
It's through
the proclamation
of the gospel.
It is through
the church
effectively
going out
and obeying
this great commission.
We have been
entrusted
as servants
of the King
with the task
to go into
the streets
and invite them
to come.
Everyone who thirsts,
everyone who hungers,
everyone who's poor,
everyone who's needy,
come to the waters
and drink.
One thing
that we keep
talking about
is personal evangelism.
Have you heard me
mention that before?
One area
that we want
to see this group
of people,
this church,
grow in
in the years to come
is personal evangelism.
Our strategy
for reaching
the lost
in all in all,
for reaching
our community,
for ministering
to our community,
our strategy
for the growth
of this church,
our strategy
for the growth
of every one
of you
is that we
would share
the gospel,
that we would
be equipped
personally,
every one of us
to share
the good news
of the gospel.
So who do you
know
that needs
to be invited
to come?
Who do you
know
that is
spiritually
thirsty?
And maybe
that's you
this morning.
And maybe
you've realized
now by the grace
of God
you've heard
this invitation,
you've heard
this message
time and time
again,
you recognize
your need
but you've
never actually
come.
Friend,
you're invited
now to come
and to listen
and to put
your trust
in Christ.
but what's
the point?
What's so
great about
this feast
that we
come back
to it time
and time
again?
Friend,
the gospel
invites you
not only
to forgiveness
which is
wonderful,
not only
to peace
with God
which is
wonderful,
not only
to escape
from judgment
and condemnation
and hell,
the good
news of
the gospel
is that
we are
invited
to be
satisfied
in God
forever.
This is
the third
part
of the gospel
according
to Isaiah.
Third,
God
alone
will satisfy.
God
alone
will satisfy.
If we
don't believe
this,
we will
never
come.
If we
don't
genuinely
believe
that God
alone
can satisfy
the needs
of our
soul,
we will
never
come
to the
Father.
Do you
know the
reason why
so many
don't
come?
When we
look at
what God
is offering
in this
feast,
this water
that gives
life,
this milk
that nourishes
and gives
strength,
this wine
that gives
joy,
bread that
satisfies our
hunger and
nourishes our
soul,
why would
anybody not
come?
He tells us
in verse 2,
Isaiah 55
verse 2,
it's because
verse 2,
we spend
our money
for that
which is
not bread
and we
labor for
that which
does not
satisfy.
In other
words,
we don't
come to
the feast
because we
have filled
ourselves
already,
or so we
think,
we're not
hungry because
we've been
snacking on
empty calories
no less.
This is a
sad depiction
of our
pursuit of
pleasure,
our pursuit
of joy,
our pursuit
of satisfaction
in anything
other than
God
himself.
Isaiah
tells us
we are
desperately
poor,
yet we
continue to
spend
ourselves
for that
which is
not bread
and that
which will
not
satisfy.
Jeremiah
the prophet,
he had
something to
say about
this.
God spoke
through
Jeremiah
the prophet
to his
people in
Israel in
exile again
and he
says in
Jeremiah
chapter 2
verse 13,
he says
this,
my people
have committed
two evils.
They have
forsaken me,
the fountain
of living
waters,
and they
have hewed
out cisterns
for themselves,
broken cisterns
that can hold
no water.
You see
these two
evils,
they have
forsaken me,
the fountain
of living
waters,
the all
satisfying
fountain of
living waters,
this fountain
of life
and joy,
but not
only that,
they have
also just
tried to
create their
own cisterns
and they're
broken cisterns
that can hold
no water
and of course
all of us
are guilty
of this
type of
idolatry.
We turn
from the
fountain of
life and
joy and
peace and
satisfaction and
we try to
find it
ourselves in
other things.
That's what
idolatry is.
We try to
find that
satisfaction in
money,
in success,
in a
relationship,
in sex,
in a child,
in respect.
Every one of
us, whether we
realize it or
not, we
worship idols.
Idols are
anything that
we turn to
for the
satisfaction that
only God
can provide.
Jeremiah says
they are
broken
cisterns.
They can't
hold water
and yet we
form them
and we
trust them.
and we
turn to
them and
we rely on
them to
quench our
thirst but
they never
will.
Sadly, they
are broken.
Several weeks
ago, you
might remember
we talked
about the
lawsuit that
was filed
against Red
Bull.
You remember
that?
And their
slogan, it'll
give you
wings.
consumers
claimed it
was false
advertising.
They'd been
drinking Red
Bull for
years and
never once
had they
grown a
pair of
wings.
And they
won the
lawsuit, believe
it or not.
Well, in
2016, there
was yet another
food-related
lawsuit.
This time, it
was against
company against
company, two
food companies.
Hungry
Man versus
Heinz.
Hungry
Man, the
frozen meal
company, it
had a
slogan.
Anybody
remember what
it was?
Satisfy your
craving.
Hungry
Man will
satisfy your
craving.
They had
trademarked it
and everything.
They were the
only frozen
food company
who could
say that
their frozen
meals would
satisfy your
craving.
But the
marketing geniuses
over at
Heinz got
together and
they came up
with Devour
Foods.
It was their
own frozen
food line and
they drafted
up their
own unique
slogan.
Devour
Foods will
satisfy your
cravings.
There's an
S.
It's plural.
More than
one.
There's an
S at the
end of it.
And of
course, the
good people
over at
Hungry
Man took
issue with
this because
they were
the only
ones who
could satisfy
your craving.
But Heinz
over here,
they said,
well, you
can satisfy
a craving,
but we
satisfy
cravings.
We can
do it all.
And if I
were bold
enough, I
would file a
lawsuit against
them both
because as we
all know,
frozen food
does not
satisfy your
cravings.
Whether one
or many,
not for long
at least.
You may be
satisfied for a
moment, you
heat it up,
you eat it,
your belly's
full, but
within a couple
hours, you're
hungry again,
it doesn't
last, and
even the best
meal of your
life, I know
Thanksgiving's
coming up.
We will
feast and
be satisfied
temporarily.
It doesn't
satisfy forever.
It's momentary,
it's temporary,
and Isaiah
and Jeremiah
show us that's
how it is with
our idols.
We believe the
advertisement
that this job,
this feeling,
this accomplishment,
this raise,
this child,
will satisfy
the needs
of my soul,
but once you
dig in and
consume it,
you get it,
you realize it
doesn't live up
to the hype,
and you're left
hungry again.
You have spent
your money on
not bread.
Why do you
spend your money
for that which
is not bread?
Why do you
labor for that
which does not
satisfy?
church,
God invites
us in
Isaiah 55
to listen
diligently
to me
and eat
what is
good.
Delight
yourselves
in rich
food.
Incline
your ear
and come
to me
here
that your
soul
may live.
Here's what
he's telling
us.
True
joy
and true
life
true
lasting
satisfaction
is found
in God
and God
alone.
He alone
can satisfy
the desires,
the cravings,
the need
of your soul,
and he has
no competitors.
This is what
we were made
for.
What is the
chief end
of man?
The chief end
of man
is to glorify
God
and enjoy
him forever.
This is what
we were made
for.
We were
created
to delight
ourselves
in God,
to be
satisfied
in him.
So every
desire that
we have
for love,
for joy,
for acceptance,
for pleasure,
every craving
for satisfaction
is ultimately
and only
fulfilled
in him.
And this
is what
Christ
came
to do.
We're told
in 1 Peter 3
verse 18.
For Christ
also suffered
once for sins,
the righteous
for the unrighteous,
that he might
bring us
to God.
The best
part of the
gospel is
not forgiveness,
it's not
freedom from
sin,
it's not
freedom from
death or
disease or
suffering,
it's not even
that we might
be reunited
with our
lost loved
ones and
family members.
The best
part of the
gospel is
that we
get to
feast
forever
on the
goodness
of God.
And it
will take
all of
eternity
for us
to explore
the goodness
of God.
One commentator,
J. Alec Motier,
says this,
The Lord
himself is
the feast.
Just as
true food
restores the
body debilitated
by not bread,
so the food
of the Lord's
word,
brings the
whole person
to the
life that
is life
indeed.
Is your
soul hungry?
Do you
hunger and
thirst to
be satisfied
in God?
You are
invited to
come to
feast that
your soul
might live.
God
and
Jesus
told
another
parable
in
Luke
chapter
15.
You all
know it
as the
parable
of the
prodigal
son.
A man
had
two sons
of the
younger
dishonored
his father
by asking
for his
share of
the
inheritance
early.
While his
father was
still living,
he basically
said,
you're as
good as
dead to
me,
just give
me the
money,
because that's
all I
really want
anyways.
And the
father gave
it to
him.
And so
the son
went off
and lived
recklessly
and spent
all his
money on
things that
would not
satisfy.
And suddenly
there was a
famine in
the land,
and he
was hungry
and thirsty
and poor
and needy.
And so
he said,
I'll go back
to my father
and I'll ask
for forgiveness.
Maybe at least
he'll let me
be like one
of his servants
and I can get
a good meal,
I can work
at his house
and eat.
But when he
started on his
way back home,
the father saw
him from a
long way off.
And Luke
says he felt
compassion on
him.
And he ran
to him.
And he embraced
him.
And he kissed
him.
And he wouldn't
even let him
finish his
apology.
He ordered
that they bring
out the best
robe and put
it on his
back and a
ring for his
finger and
shoes for his
feet and to
kill the
fattened calf
and prepare it
so that they
could feast
and celebrate.
For this my
son was dead
and is alive
again.
He was lost
and is now
found.
Can you imagine
what a joy
that must have
been?
For the son
to come back
home having
nothing to offer
whatsoever,
broken and
humbled and
poor,
not just to come
back and enjoy
a feast,
not just to
enjoy rich
food and
drink wine
and to
celebrate,
but to be
restored to
his father
and to be
with him
and to be
embraced by
him and to
be welcomed
back home.
Friend,
that is the
call of
Isaiah 55.
Come ye
sinners,
poor and
needy,
weak and
wounded,
sick and
sore.
Jesus ready
stands to
save you
full of
pity,
love and
power.
Would you
come?
Would you
come?
Would you
come?
Let's pray.
Lord,
we thank you
for your
heart that's
displayed in
this passage
that you
would invite
sinners like
us to
come and
to be
satisfied in
you.
Nothing else
can satisfy
the needs
of our
soul,
but you
and you
alone.
We thank
you that
through the
work of
Christ you
have made
a way for
us to be
forgiven and
to be
restored to
our father.
We pray that
we would leave
this place
encouraged and
with the good
news of this
invitation quick
off of our
lips to any
who would
hear.
We pray this
in Jesus'
name.
Amen.