1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:29,980 ...read in the evening. A guy by the name of Ray Ortlund took that, and kind of modernized some of the language while keeping Spurgeon's depth, and so it was a great book. Several years ago, for New Year's, we gave away the book called New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp to the church as a whole. I think you might still have copies of it. It's a great devotional book, but one I'm excited about, and I have not looked at or read, is one called Daily Strength, and it's written by a bunch of people. 2 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:58,000 ...various authors who I have been blessed by. You know, I haven't read this one, and I think what grabbed me is sure to direct and grab a description. Right? Let's get in there. Let's get some Bible and redirect about it. And also for our young men, it's never too early to learn about and learn from Charles Spurgeon. So there is a book called God's Promises in the Baptist, and it's adapted from some of Spurgeon's reflections on faith. 3 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:18,000 So if you have any questions about that, have a word to let me know. I'll remind you again during our offering time. This summer, we're moving through a series where we look at how God refreshes us, how he restores us, and how he renews us. So let's go ahead and have a word of prayer. We're going to dive into Isaiah 55. 4 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:46,000 Father in heaven, I'm so thankful for your word. I'm thankful for those who are fathers. I'm thankful for the Christian net that you have put in our congregation. So we just ask that we strengthen our hands for the good work that you have placed before us. Be with us as we look at your promises and hear these words with the deep emotion that they were given, these wonderful invitations that are repeated in different ways. 5 00:01:46,000 --> 00:02:01,000 We don't listen very well in the first time. So help us as we seek to address our struggling hearts, and we address our wandering, as we address our skepticism in the first time. 6 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:14,000 Probably most of us have heard or said the phrase, "There's good news or bad news." I was, at the age that my kids, oldest two kids were, 7 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:26,000 are now when I discovered joke books, just books filled with jokes. The funny thing about joke books is they lose their humor when somebody is reading them to you, 8 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:34,000 one after another, after another, after another. And I discovered in this joke book that I was reading, and it still sticks in my mind, 9 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:42,000 and there's good news and bad news jokes, right? So the pilot comes out to the wife, and they're not really that funny, but you're going to bear with me. 10 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:52,000 The pilot comes out and the wife says, "Well, I've got good news and bad news, and the bad news is that your husband fell out of the plane. 11 00:02:52,000 --> 00:03:00,000 The good news is he was wearing a parachute. The bad news is the parachute didn't open, but the good news is the plane was still on the ground, right?" 12 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:07,000 They're not really that funny. In fact, I thought they were funny when I was like eight years old, and I felt like I needed to share them with everybody. 13 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:21,000 One of the great trials and tribulations of fatherhood that I am learning now is that what I did, my parents, my children are now doing to me, and I'm pretty sure my parents are saying, "Amen, keep going, keep going." 14 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:28,000 So when we talk about good news and bad news, one of the things that we do is that we're trying to balance. 15 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:35,000 I've got good news, but I'm trying to balance out the bad news that I'm about to tell you. 16 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:43,000 I'm trying to break it to you gently, maybe with some humor to try to soften the blow of the bad news. 17 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:49,000 The reality of the world that we live in is that it's often filled with bad news. 18 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:54,000 In fact, it seems that oftentimes that's all we hear is bad news after bad news. 19 00:03:54,000 --> 00:04:00,000 And the reality is, while it seems like it's filled with bad news, it really isn't. 20 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,000 In fact, if you begin to read about the proportion of good news to bad news, 21 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:09,000 it seems in many cases, in a lot of news outlets, it's pretty even. 22 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:14,000 But the problem is, is that the bad news is always louder. 23 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:18,000 It always is given to us in a way that draws our attention. 24 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:22,000 The fonts are bigger. The headlines are more terrifying. 25 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:28,000 And so oftentimes, even though there is a lot of good news, the bad news is what grabs our attention, 26 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:35,000 what sits center stage, and oftentimes drives more eyeballs to TV or more clicks on the internet. 27 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:40,000 But also, in addition to that, our circle has gotten wider. 28 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:46,000 So even 100 or 150 years ago, if you think about the area in which you were hearing bad news, 29 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:53,000 was your locality, maybe your city, maybe your state, sometimes nationally, and in rare cases internationally, 30 00:04:53,000 --> 00:05:06,000 but now, right, we have news that is 24/7 spanning the whole globe, and oftentimes what drives the news is that news. 31 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:15,000 And so we have all kinds of news in the world, and it all oftentimes is bad news. 32 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:19,000 Now that reality of bad news brings us to the book of Isaiah. 33 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:34,000 And the book of Isaiah is fascinating because it's 66 chapters, and one of the remarkable things about those 66 chapters is in many ways sort of the divisions of Isaiah mirror the divisions of the Bible as a whole. 34 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:44,000 The first 39 chapters of the book of Isaiah are primarily focused on law and judgment and what is coming because you have broken God's law. 35 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:55,000 But then, the last 27 chapters are in many cases pictures of hope, the resurrection, the forgiveness of the suffering. 36 00:05:55,000 --> 00:06:04,000 Serving passage we read about Jesus taking away our sins, being the sheep who was led to slaughter in our place. 37 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:08,000 The first 27 chapters. 38 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:13,000 I want to zoom in a little more because we're in that second half, that passage of hope in Isaiah. 39 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:20,000 And there's 15 chapters from Isaiah 40 to Isaiah 55. 40 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:27,000 There is a picture, and they sort of act as brackets, and specifically comforts. 41 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:31,000 And so it's good news for people who are living in a bad news world. 42 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:33,000 And look at how these brackets are set up. 43 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:39,000 So Isaiah 40 begins like this, "Comfort, comfort my people," says your God. 44 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:45,000 And a few moments later, the grass withers, the flower faith, but the Word of God will stand forever. 45 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:56,000 So God comes to comfort, and one of the ways He does that is reminding us that everything in this world oftentimes withers and fades away, but His Word stands forever. 46 00:06:56,000 --> 00:07:05,000 Now the bracket on the other side of this in Isaiah 55 and 11 is this, "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, 47 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:12,000 and do not return there but the water of the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 48 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:21,000 so shall my word be that goes out from a mountain, that shall not return to me empty, but shall accomplish that which I purpose, 49 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:31,000 and shall succeed for the thing in which I have sinned." And so our text this morning finds itself in this section of comfort that is bracketed 50 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:40,000 by the fact that the word of God both stands and helps us grow and does not return empty. 51 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:45,000 I want you to hear the words of our text this morning, and then we'll dive into it. 52 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:52,000 Come to everyone who thirsts. Come to the waters. He who has no money, come buy and eat. 53 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:58,000 Come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, 54 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:04,000 and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me and eat what is good. 55 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:09,000 Delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear and come to me. 56 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:14,000 Hear that your soul may live and I will make with you an everlasting cover. 57 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:19,000 My steadfast, sure love of thee. 58 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:26,000 So have you ever had something and it wasn't what you truly, truly wanted? 59 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:30,000 I was thinking about this the other day. 60 00:08:30,000 --> 00:08:34,000 Jesus speaks to the church at Laodicea in Revelation chapter 3. 61 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:39,000 He says to them about water, you know, using this illustration from their town about lukewarm water. 62 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:42,000 Either be hot or cold or I will spit you out of my mouth. 63 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:46,000 That's very much how I feel about coffee, right? 64 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:52,000 It either needs to be really, really hot or really, really cold, and if it's lukewarm I just want to spit it out of my mouth. 65 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:58,000 So the other day I went and I got a cup of coffee. My coffee cup came out and there's like a little note written on the side of it. 66 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:06,000 I'm driving away, taking a sip of this coffee. I'm like, you'd only spent the time you had done writing the note on the side of my coffee cup 67 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:13,000 on making the coffee that is within it to the way that I had ordered it. Like we would be in much better shape right now. 68 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:18,000 And I'm sitting there and I'm like, this is not what I ordered. This is not what I want. 69 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:25,000 I set the tone for the next 40 minutes of me being frustrated about my coffee. 70 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:36,000 And the way we hear this text begin, and one of the threads that runs through it is that there is bad news. 71 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:45,000 That everything we have been searching for and hoping for and trying to obtain for ourselves, all of these things that we are running after, 72 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:52,000 all that we are spending our money and our labor and our energy on ultimately does not satisfy us. 73 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:59,000 This is the premise behind this entire text. The first people are hungry. 74 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:08,000 And everything that you have worked so hard to labor on is coming up and forth. 75 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:13,000 And it's interesting because Isaiah's audience is accustomed to that news. 76 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:20,000 There's this very small word that's used throughout the book of Isaiah, and it's an interjection. 77 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:24,000 When we say interjection, what we mean is a word that's like emotion or reaction, right? 78 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:31,000 You get hurt and go, "Ouch!" Right? Or you say, "Wow!" Or our kids sometimes at dinner where it's like, "Ew!" Right? 79 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:37,000 It's one of those words that just kind of gets thrown in. And there's a word like that that's used throughout the Old Testament. 80 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:53,000 51 times, but always, almost always, it's never used in a good way, but it's almost always used as a woe or a signal that judgment is coming. 81 00:10:53,000 --> 00:11:04,000 And in the areas where it's not used as a signal that judgment is coming, it's used in the sense of a lapse of, for example, the king died. 82 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:31,000 Isaiah uses this word more than any other prophet. In fact, 20 times it's used in Isaiah before this. It's used more than 20 times before the beginning of this text, where this interjection is used, and oftentimes it's not even translated, but it's all about judgment. 83 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:52,000 If you would have heard this read, their reaction to this as the beginning would be that judgment is coming. Then you'd hear disembayance. So it's not really a text like judgment. It's a text showing that I'm sorrow and I'm happy. 84 00:11:52,000 --> 00:12:20,000 But I have offered you full of freshers and chores so that every Vietnam energy will have changed some things. This morning, those who have known the goodness of God, but all of their energy is devoted to pursuing what they think will bring them peace, but it doesn't actually happen. 85 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:35,000 That's the bad news that begins in this passage. The tone of this text is the emotion that God is pouring out in grief over the fact that we have run from those very things that save us. 86 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:46,000 It is the text of the invitation. Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. He who has no money, come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money or price. 87 00:12:46,000 --> 00:13:02,000 And the good news in this text is that we're truly searching for. The problem that we have in our English treatment is that it's a struggle for us. 88 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:14,000 Each verse contains an invitation, and each invitation is applied to a different area of our heart that we need to hear. 89 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:25,000 So in Isaiah 55, verse 1 is the invitation. "Come everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and come by wine and milk without money, without bread." 90 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:31,000 That word repeated over and over, "Come." It's an invitation, and it's a big invitation. 91 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:38,000 Because you and I, when we hear good news, oftentimes there is skepticism in our hearts, right? We've been burned before. 92 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:48,000 There's a big promise and it under-delivers. Or maybe we might say, "This might be true, but it's not true for me." 93 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:55,000 And God knows our discouragement. He starts this text in a big way. Look at what he says. 94 00:13:55,000 --> 00:14:02,000 "This invitation is for everyone." And you know how I know that the invitation of this text is for everyone. 95 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:07,000 Because it starts like this, "Come everyone." Right? It doesn't get much more clear than that. 96 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:20,000 There's not an age limit. There's not a nationality limit. There's not the picture of this person that allows that person not to be in the picture. 97 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:28,000 And it's not just big in terms of the scope, but it's big in terms of what it promises. Right? 98 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:36,000 "Free" means "free" in this text. "Come by wine and milk without money without price." It just means "free." 99 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:43,000 And we use "free" in a lot of different ways, right? Buy one, get one free. It's not really free, I had to buy one. 100 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:50,000 Or free with conditions, right? Open a new checking account, set up direct deposit. We'll just deposit this amount of money into your account. 101 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:57,000 Buy a car from us, we'll give you free oil changes. Oil changes aren't really free because I had to buy a car in order to get them, right? 102 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:05,000 We use "free" in a lot of ways that don't really mean "free." And look at what this invitation, this big invitation, 103 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:15,000 to come, buy wine and milk, "Well, I don't have any money." And he says, "That's okay." Because it's without money and without price. 104 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:26,000 Not only for everyone, it's free. This invitation of investment skepticism of our hearts tells us it's for all circumstances. 105 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:34,000 In these verses, there's sort of a grocery list, right? You've got water, you've got milk, you've got wine, there's bread mentioned in the next verse. 106 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:41,000 In this verse, some of you talk about water, you talk about wine, you talk about milk. All three of these are important. 107 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:49,000 We tend to take water for granted. If we turn on tap, we can get it, we can walk into the gas station, 108 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:55,000 there's like 18 different brands of bottled water. Some that claim to do this, some that come from distant shores, 109 00:15:55,000 --> 00:16:01,000 some that are in glass, some that's from West Virginia, some that's from Virginia, some that's in an industrial park in New Jersey. 110 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:07,000 Like, whatever kind of water you want, we can walk in, and we can... 111 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:14,000 Now, if you are living in this kind of area, and the background to your life, even though you're now in Babylon, 112 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:17,000 is in Israel, water is a big deal. 113 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:23,000 Remember, Israelites first, Israel's first complaint was the wilderness and the wilderness and the wilderness. 114 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:29,000 Water and the gift of water. 115 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:38,000 And so the picture of this big invitation, first of all, says it gives you what is necessary to survive, 116 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:43,000 but the next thing is, it gives you what is necessary to celebrate. 117 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:47,000 So come by and eat, come by wine. 118 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:51,000 The picture of wine in Scripture is almost universally celebratory. 119 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:56,000 If water goes, you're going to survive, wine says you're going to celebrate. 120 00:16:56,000 --> 00:17:03,000 In part, it pictures of people who are stable because you have to grow grapes and harvest them. 121 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:09,000 But it's used in celebration to give God in some way more. 122 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:14,000 It turns out how it feels. It was present. 123 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:19,000 These people are looking at their wife and saying, "No." 124 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,000 Sometimes somebody will say, "Well, good morning." 125 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:23,000 And it's like, "Well, what's good about it?" 126 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:27,000 I don't often respond that way. I think that way. 127 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:37,000 Many of these people are saying, "Well, what is good about my situation and my brokenness, my separation from my people? I'm in captivity." 128 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:41,000 I feel like your life is unrooted and you're in the wrong direction. 129 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:44,000 You're in the heart of the people. 130 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:48,000 And then you're in the constitution of the promises. 131 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:59,000 In fact, when Isaiah 25, we talk to the quarter and we stand on that mountain in the presence of God who takes away all our prayers. 132 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:07,000 And thirdly, the covenant of Jesus is the covenant of God who will come by milk. 133 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:14,000 The covenant of Jesus to the Israelites from the promise of the name of milk and honey. 134 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:21,000 It's almost always a testament to deliverance and inheritance. 135 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:26,000 And here you are in captivity, in your homeland. The land of milk and honey is far away. 136 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:30,000 Do you remember where Moses was when the first time he came? 137 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:35,000 Exodus chapter 3, he's in exile. In the land of Midian, there's a burning bush. 138 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:41,000 And God will say, "I'm going to promise to take these people to the land of milk and honey." 139 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:48,000 And now here you are, hundreds of years later, in exile, and God is saying, "I'm bringing you to that land of milk." 140 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:53,000 And so there is this picture here that's not just survival, but celebration. 141 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:59,000 And in the midst of the sustaining and nourishing power of God running through it all. 142 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:02,000 Because this is the invitation. 143 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:05,000 It's a big invitation. 144 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:11,000 But if you qualify, it allows your clients' lapses. 145 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,000 First of all, I want you to see this invitation is big. 146 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:17,000 Second, I want you to see this invitation is honest. 147 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:19,000 Listen to what is said. 148 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:24,000 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread in your labor, for that which is not satisfied? 149 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:26,000 Listen to the invitation to me. 150 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:31,000 Eat what is good and delight yourselves in rich food. 151 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:35,000 The first thing this does is it's honest and showing us the truth of life. 152 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:37,000 And one of the ways it does that is by confronting us. 153 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:43,000 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread in your labor, for that which does not satisfy? 154 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:47,000 It's a little accusatory. 155 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:50,000 It confronts us, but it's a merciful confrontation. 156 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:57,000 See, you don't like making a front, and I've shared this story before, but it always just sticks with me when I think about merciful confrontation. 157 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:03,000 The first house we lived in in Vermont was on a one-way road that looked through the entire view of the neighborhood. 158 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:06,000 And we were out playing with the neighborhood kids one day. 159 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:13,000 And this car comes by, and we start yelling at the car because the lady had her purse sitting right on top. 160 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:17,000 Evidently, you know, she sets her purse on top, gets in the car, drives off. 161 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:21,000 So all of us are yelling at her that her purse, and she just slams on the brakes. 162 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:24,000 This was before Karen sort of thing, but she probably was. 163 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:28,000 She comes storming out, "Boy, are you yelling at me!" 164 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:31,000 She's a purge on top of the car. 165 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:33,000 Oh, okay. Right? 166 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:37,000 Personal consultation. Nobody likes to be confronted. 167 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:42,000 Then you find it wasn't a way to hurt you, but to save you. 168 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:46,000 The God is doing this. He's killing us. 169 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:49,000 Your priorities are in the wrong spot. 170 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:53,000 Not to hurt us, but to save us. 171 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:58,000 His invitation doesn't pretend that things are okay or flatter us twice. 172 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:02,000 He shows his brokenness, but he lays records toward the wrong spot. 173 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:06,000 You and I are skeptical of being invitations because they're too good to be true. 174 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:10,000 And so when we hear something like this, it's easy to be skeptical. 175 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:12,000 What are the conditions? What are the qualifications? 176 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:15,000 Do you know the rules, the terms, the exclusions? 177 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:17,000 Does this apply to me? 178 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:19,000 Or this? What if it's junk? 179 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:22,000 What if that free gift, right? 180 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:24,000 Has anybody ever gotten a free gift? 181 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:26,000 Like, in terms of a promotion? 182 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:32,000 And you're like, man, this is not nearly as cool as it looks like it's going to be Scripture. 183 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,000 Free stuff is always the best. 184 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:40,000 One of my nephews just got his voting license. 185 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:44,000 And so as a joke, I've been like looking up decommissioned agentships and being like, 186 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:47,000 "Hey, we should get this to fish out of this summer." 187 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:51,000 So as a result, now my Facebook Marketplace is filled with like free votes. 188 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:53,000 And almost all of them are like, "Ooh, free vote." 189 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:55,000 And I'm like, "Ooh, yeah, look at this one." 190 00:21:55,000 --> 00:22:01,000 And the description that caught me this week was, "It's free, and there's a reason." 191 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:05,000 Right? Not a good vote, right? It doesn't hold water. 192 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:11,000 So we're skeptical when somebody says something, it's free. 193 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:16,000 So we come to this with some skepticism. 194 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:22,000 We come to this one. We see it's for everybody. 195 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:28,000 But what about me? How can you speak for me? I'm rebellious. 196 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,000 Maybe I don't know enough. Maybe I get it. 197 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:34,000 I'm kind of like, "What do you want me to do?" 198 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:47,000 I don't know. I don't know. I don't know how God responds to all of our sacrifices. 199 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:53,000 From the terms and qualifications to whether we qualify to whether this is good. 200 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:58,000 He says this, "Listen diligently." 201 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:15,000 The first thing that God says to us about our sacrifices is, "Actually listen to what I am saying." 202 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:22,000 Don't just hear the words. I'm not going to pass over you, but let it sink down deep into the center of your life. 203 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:33,000 And then He says, "Eat what is good." I hear "good." I'll say something like, "Well, that's good enough for government work." 204 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:42,000 We can do good in what a way to do good. Respectful. Genuinely. That's good. 205 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:51,000 The first thing God says, "Eat what is good." If you're skeptical, try to eat what is good. 206 00:23:51,000 --> 00:24:01,000 And look at what you're trying. Listen diligently. Even if you try this, it's down to this. Delight yourselves. 207 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:09,000 Enrich me. Enrich me. Enrich me. When we give presents as adults, sometimes we often try to play it cool. 208 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:20,000 What I love is when little kids, they haven't figured out that they need to try to be cool, and they get something they're so excited for, and their life just overflows with joy. 209 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:37,000 That's the picture of the life. And while God says to our skepticism, "If you're willing to listen deeply, to try what I'm offering you, you will find yourself delighted in what I've found." 210 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:41,000 We go unbroken. Nobody's been in the head above water. It's a communication. 211 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:47,000 He's made too good. The claims are too great. There has to be some fine print. 212 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:51,000 And what we hear. 213 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:57,000 Let's try. 214 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:01,000 We're going to play. 215 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:06,000 We're going to play. 216 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:12,000 Or if you've ever watched Game of Tiger, you've got to try new food, because it might be good. 217 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:15,000 We think that. If we think that at all, then we feel sick of it. 218 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:20,000 Our kids are going to be, like, 19 years old, and we're going to be doing that. 219 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:25,000 That's a promise. 220 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:31,000 Secondly, it addresses our skepticism and courage. 221 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:35,000 Find your ear. 222 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:41,000 Now make it an everlasting covenant that fast leads your love. 223 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:45,000 We give invitations in our mail, junk mail. 224 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:48,000 It's the Remember to Remember sales event. 225 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:50,000 It's the Toyota bar, right? 226 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:54,000 All kinds of general invitations to the residents. 227 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:58,000 Sometimes they're invitations to us specifically. 228 00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:02,000 Sometimes we give or receive invitations out of obligation. 229 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:06,000 Well, I guess they're families, so I have to invite them. 230 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:09,000 Look closely at this invitation. 231 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:11,000 This is what God says. 232 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:22,000 "On your ear, come to me, hear your soul, and I will make with you an everlasting covenant." 233 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:25,000 He's not saying they're rebellious and ignorant. 234 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:27,000 Those are really keeping their heads out of water. 235 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:30,000 And He is saying, "Come to me." 236 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:34,000 And I want to put this just in the context of the one who is saying it. 237 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:37,000 He's the incomparable Creator. 238 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:41,000 In Isaiah 40, it says, "Who has measured the heavens with the span? 239 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:44,000 Who has held the waters in the palm of His hand? 240 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:46,000 Who weighs the mountains on the balance? 241 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:49,000 The everlasting God does not grow weary. 242 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,000 He neither slumbers or sleeps. 243 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,000 And those who weighed on Him will renew their strength. 244 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:56,000 He is the sovereign Lord of all history, 245 00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:59,000 who raises up kings and brings them down, 246 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:03,000 who declares the enemy from the beginning and the things not yet done. 247 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:08,000 That God, who is so big and so mighty and sovereign over all things, 248 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:18,000 who looks at you and says, "Listen, dear, I will come to you." 249 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:21,000 You curse me. 250 00:27:21,000 --> 00:27:25,000 The invitation is big, it's honest, but it's also personal. 251 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:28,000 Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. 252 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:30,000 He who has no money, come buy and eat. 253 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:34,000 Come buy wine and milk without money, without price. 254 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:37,000 Why do you save your money for that which is not good? 255 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:40,000 In your labor for that which does not satisfy. 256 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:42,000 Listen diligently to me and do what he's doing. 257 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:44,000 Delight yourself and rich from you. 258 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:45,000 Decline your ear, come to me. 259 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:49,000 Hear that your soul can live, and I will make you an everlasting covenant. 260 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:53,000 Mature and steadfast love. 261 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:58,000 But how is this possible? 262 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:00,000 You've heard the praise. 263 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:03,000 There's things for free lunch. 264 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:10,000 You've been in one of those situations where you have been invited to something or you thought you were and it wasn't for you. 265 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:14,000 I read an account the other day of a guy talking about this embarrassing moment where he was like, 266 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:18,000 "Yeah, I was in the park and I hear this lady going, 'Hey, come get your ice cream.'" 267 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:20,000 He's like, "So I run over there to get some ice cream." 268 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,000 And it turned out it was just for a grandkid, right? 269 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:24,000 There's a 40-year-old guy going, "Where's my ice cream?" Right? 270 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:26,000 That embarrassing moment. 271 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:29,000 And so we come with this baggage, right? 272 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:31,000 There's no such thing as a free lunch. 273 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:32,000 How could this be for me? 274 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:36,000 How could the invitation this big and this honest and this personal, 275 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:41,000 from the God who is incomparable, everlasting, and the sovereign Lord of all history? 276 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:45,000 How could this be for me? 277 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:48,000 What are the reasons why this would be for me? 278 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:50,000 This would be for me. 279 00:28:50,000 --> 00:29:19,980 Thank you. 280 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:47,000 That's Isaiah 55, Acts 17, Acts 13, Peter. He's preaching, and he goes through all of salvation history, in just a few minutes, from like the Patriarchs to Egypt, the Wilderness Judges, Saul, David, and he'll say, "This man, about David, this man's offspring, God has brought to Israel, the Savior, Jesus. He died, and ultimately he rose again." 281 00:29:47,000 --> 00:30:14,000 The center of Paul's resurrection argument is the sure and steadfast mercy of God in the financy of his life. God promises about David, David has died, and he's married, and he's descended, and he came, and died from a place for our sin, and he goes again and continues to reign. And therefore, this Jesus is the one who… 282 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:37,000 Let it be known to you, therefore, brothers, that you dismay in Jesus from the givenness of sin is proclaimed. And by him, everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed under the law of Moses. 283 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:51,000 Those who are broken, rebellious, those barely keeping their head above water. Come and see. But, you can find the strength of it to be freed among the commons of the children. 284 00:30:51,000 --> 00:31:06,000 And that is common. And the revelation is that the one who is here, say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come, and let the one who desires take of the water. 285 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:29,000 Take of the water out of the body. And help the pipes. Father, I thank you for your grace. Thank you for these words. 286 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:39,000 God is so obedient, struggling people in exile. Thank you for this invitation of promise. 287 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:53,080 Thank you for this invitation of promise. Lord, help us to hear. Help us to taste and hope.