Celebrate Our Savior!
Isaiah 55:1-13
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church October 10, 2010
*We are here today to celebrate the tremendous blessing of our new children’s building. But what if we were still out under the trees like the kids were 80 years ago? Would we still have something to celebrate?
-Of course, the answer is yes!
*In Acts 16, Paul and Silas received a brutal beating at Philippi. Then they were chained deep in the prison. But at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God. They celebrated right there in the prison. And in Phil 4:4, Paul would later tell the Philippian Christians to “rejoice in the Lord always!”
*Last year by the grace of God we saw a healthy increase in our baptisms. But what if we only saw one or none? Would we still have something to celebrate?
-The answer is yes.
*Some of the greatest heroes of our faith had to wait years for great things to happen.
-William Carey worked 7 years before the first Hindu convert was won to Jesus in India.
-Adoniram Judson worked for 7 years in Burma before his faithful preaching saw one soul won to Christ.
-In western Africa, it took 14 years of hard work before one convert was received into the Christian church.
-In New Zealand, it took 9 years.
-And in Tahiti, it was 16 years before the first harvest of souls began. (1)
*We have many great blessings to celebrate today! But church, if every other blessing was taken away, we would still have the greatest blessing of all!
-We would still have Jesus!
-And we are here today to celebrate our Savior.
1. First: celebrate the Lord’s invitation.
*God gives us His great invitation starting in vs. 1, and He shouts to get our attention: “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”
*Church, there is sadness in that shout. That word “Ho” could be translated “Alas!” or “Woe!”
-You see, it breaks God’s heart to know that people are throwing their lives away.
*Many people are throwing their lives away on things that can never bring real life, joy, peace and satisfaction.
-So in vs. 2, God asks: “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.”
*This is God’s invitation to the abundant life He wants you to have. And in vs. 3, He invites you again. Thus says the Lord: “Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you the sure mercies of David.”
*God invites us to His everlasting, abundant life.
-And we are here today to celebrate the Lord’s invitation.
2. But also celebrate the Lord’s salvation.
*Over the next few verses God gives us 3 essential elements of His salvation:
-His strong Messiah...
-His spreading message...
-And His sure mercy.
[1] First we see God’s strong Messiah.
*Yes, in vs. 3 God invites us to receive His everlasting life. He invites us to salvation. But God’s eternal life can only come through His Son, the Messiah, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So in vs. 4, God the Father is speaking about His Son as our strong Messiah.
-Here the Father said, “Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people, a leader and commander for the people.”
[2] Next the Heavenly Father speaks to His Son about His spreading message.
*The Good News message of the cross started in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago, and it began to spread. Now people from countries around the world have responded to the good news message of Jesus Christ.
*This was on the Father’s mind in vs. 5, where He told His Son: “Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.”
*God the Father has glorified his Son Jesus Christ...
-Through His countless miracles.
-Through His suffering on the cross for our sins.
-Through His resurrection from the dead.
-Through His ascension back into Heaven.
-And through the coming of His Holy Spirit into the world.
*In all these ways and more, God the Father glorified His Son Jesus Christ.
*And why did the Father glorify His Son?
-The main reason why is because Jesus deserves the glory!
-But the Father also glorified His Son so that we would run to Him.
*Have you run to Jesus?
-Have you responded to God’s great invitation?
-Run to Jesus for life!
*Many years ago in Scotland, workers were blasting with dynamite in a rock quarry. One day they attached the fuse, went a safe distance and sounded the alarm. But suddenly they saw a 3-year-old boy wandering across the open space in the danger zone.
*Every passing second meant that death was closing in on the child. The workmen called to the child and waved their arms, but he thought they were playing. No man dared to run forward knowing the explosion was only seconds away. And the little boy most certainly would have been killed.
*But just in time his mother appeared. Realizing the danger, she did not run toward her son or yell to frighten him. Instead, she knelt down, opened her arms wide and smiled for him to come. And instantly, the boy ran toward her.
*Just seconds later, the area shook with the force of the explosion, but the child was safe in his mother’s arms. And a wise man said: “What a picture of the grace of God and of the cross. With outstretched arms on the cross Jesus gives His gracious invitation for you to run to Him for everlasting safety.” (2)
*Run to Jesus for life! -- And don’t put it off, because life is short. You never know when you will leave this world, so vs. 6 says: “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.”
*And notice that when you are truly running to the Savior, you are running away from sin, so in vs. 7, the Lord says: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”
*This is the message of the Gospel that is spreading to the nations around the world. But why will God abundantly pardon those who run to Him?
[3] It is because of His sure mercy.
*Back in vs. 3, God tells us: “Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you the sure mercies of David.”
*God invites us to eternal life through His sure mercies.
-This is crucial, because Rom 3:23 tells us that all of us have sinned against God. And Rom 6:23 tells us that the wages of our sins is death, eternal death in hell. That’s why we desperately need God’s mercy.
*Jesus told a story in Luke 18:10-14 to help us understand His mercy.
-Here it is in the New Living Translation:
10. “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector.
11. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector!
12. I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
13. But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’
14. I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
*Two men went to the temple to pray. One man was a Pharisee; the other was a tax collector. In that day the Pharisees were admired because they seemed to be devoted to God. Tax collectors were hated as crooks and cheats.
*Ray Pritchard explained: “It’s as if Jesus told a story and said, ‘Over here we have a Supreme Court Justice and over there we have a rapist. Over here we have the President and over there we have a prostitute.’
*When the Pharisee prayed, he bragged about his own righteousness, as if God owed him something. But when the tax collector prayed, he felt so burdened about his sin that he stood at a distance, kept his head bowed, beat his chest, and cried out, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
*The original language can be read this way: ‘God be merciful to me, THE sinner.’ It’s as if he was saying, ‘I am the worst of all sinners. I am as bad as bad can be.’ And when he said, ‘God be merciful to me the sinner,’ the people who heard him might have said, ‘That’s right. -- You are the worst of all possible sinners.’ The shock of this story is that the so-called good man ends up lost and the bad man ends up saved. Why? -- Because he prayed, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner!’ (3)
*He was trusting in the sure mercies of God. -- And so can we!
-We can trust God in vs. 8&9, because He is infinitely wiser and better than we could ever be:
8. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
9. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
*Trust in the sure mercies of Jesus Christ, and then celebrate the Lord’s salvation.
3. But also celebrate the Lord’s communication.
*God speaks to anyone who will listen, and He does this through the life-changing, soul-saving, everlasting, ever-reliable Word of God.
*In vs. 10-11 God confirms both the faithfulness and the fruitfulness of His Word:
10. “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11. So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
*God’s invitation to us comes through His Word, and you can always trust in the Word of God. That’s why in Rom 1:16, Paul said: “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.”
*And speaking to Christians, the Apostle Peter said:
22. Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
23. having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,
24. because "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away,
25. but the word of the Lord endures forever.’’ Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. (1 Peter 1:22-25)
*You can always trust in the Word of God!
-It will guide you in every area of life.
-And it will safely take you home to Heaven.
*John Heffner told about a lady who had the unfortunate experience of having to listen to a preacher who claimed that not all of the Scripture is true. She was confused, but her innocent question after the service exposed the fallacy of the preacher’s position.
-She simply asked, “On what page does God start telling the truth?” (4)
*We know the answer to that question. -- Page one!
-So today we can celebrate the Lord’s communication to us, the ever-lasting, ever-reliable Word of God.
4. But also celebrate the Lord’s transformation.
*In vs. 12-13, the Lord previews the perfect transformation that is coming to this world. Speaking to His people, God says:
12. “For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier 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.’’
[1] Notice that the Lord promises us a personal transformation. In vs. 12, He said, “You shall go out with joy.”
*John Gill explained that God’s Word is talking about believers spiritually:
-Going out from bondage to sin and Satan into the freedom we have in Jesus.
-Going out from darkness and ignorance into the light of the Lord.
-Going out of the pit of misery and distress into the joy of the Lord.
-Going out from our own sinful ways into the goodness of God. (5)
*The Lord promises us a personal transformation.
[2] And He promises us peaceful transformation. In vs. 12&13 God said:
12. “For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with PEACE; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree. . .
*God gives peace to His people! When we place our faith in Jesus Christ, we get peace with God and peace in our souls.
-But God reminds us here that one day He is going to bring peace to our world.
*The prophet Isaiah explained more about this back in Isaiah 11:6-9. There God’s Word says:
6. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
7. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.
9. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
*God says, “The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.” Now I don’t know about you, but most people don’t like snakes. I don’t mind the nonpoisonous snakes. But I don’t want to be within a block of a cobra, unless it’s behind bulletproof glass.
*But it’s not always going to be that way for God’s people. The Lord is telling us here that there is coming a day when you can play around a cobra, just like you play around a puppy dog today.
*God will bring peace to His world! He promises us a peaceful transformation.
[3] And He promises us a permanent transformation. In Isaiah 55:13: “Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier 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.”
*There is an infinite, miraculous future in store for all who believe in Jesus.
*Back in 2006, there was a tragic disaster at the Sago Mine in West Virginia. Twelve miners died after an explosion rocked the mine one morning. They were killed not by the blast, but by the toxic carbon monoxide that filled the mine shaft where they we trapped.
*I was touched by the note that one of the men had scribbled on the back of an insurance form he had in his pocket. The note was from 51-year-old mine foreman Martin Toler, Jr. And it simply said this:
“Tell all I see them on the other side. -- It wasn’t bad.
I just went to sleep.
I love you.
Jr. (6)
*“I’ll see you on the other side.” -- “I’ll see you in Heaven!”
-This is the glorious eternity in store for all who have trusted in Jesus as Savior and Lord. It will be a celebration that will last forever.
*And sometimes we get distracted, but Christians, this celebration has already started for us! -- Amen?
*It can start today for you.
-Listen to the Lord’s invitation. And run to Jesus today.
1. SermonCentral sermon “Never Give Up” by James May - Matt 9:1-26
2. Sources:
Online sermon “Open Arms” by Rebecca Eisenhart - John 13:1-17 & 31-35
Pulpit Helps - http://www.tagnet.org/clarkston/Christian Illustrations #2.htm
3. Adapted from online sermon “Sinners in the Hands of a Merciful God” by Ray Pritchard - Romans 11:30-32 - http://www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/2006-08-25-Sinners-in-the-Hands-of-a-Merciful-God/
4. "Honest to Goodness" Lecture Series by John Heffner - Westgate Memorial Baptist Church - 7/22/01 - (Source: “In Other words” - Fall 2001 email edition - produced by Dr. Raymond McHenry - 6130 Barrington ~ Beaumont, Texas 77706 (800) 553-4697 - www.iows.net)
5. John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible - Isaiah 55:12
6. Sources:
Adapted from: “I just went to sleep, dying miner scribbled” - By Allen G. Breed - AP - Jan. 6, 2006
Picture of Martin Toler’s last words:
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/01/05/national/06mine.1.ready.html
