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Reading Isaiah 55:1-13 where the Lord promises salvation for His people through the preaching of the gospel, so that even the nations will come to hear and be saved. Visit wwutt.com for all our videos!
Isaiah 55 says let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh and he will have compassion on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. When we understand the text.
This is when we understand the text, teaching through a New Testament book on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, an Old Testament book on Thursday and a Q &A on Friday. With our Old Testament study today, here's Pastor Gabe.
Thank you, Becky. In our study of Isaiah, we come to a chapter today that has some verses in it that may be familiar to you. Verses that are as familiar as some of the ones we heard when we were in chapter 53.
This is chapter 55. It's a shorter chapter, just 13 verses. So I'm gonna go ahead and read the whole thing from the Legacy Standard Bible. Hear the word of the Lord. Ho, everyone who thirsts, 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 do you spend money for what is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is good and delight your soul in richness. Incline your ear and come to me. Listen that your soul may live and I will cut an everlasting covenant with you according to the faithful loving kindness of David.
Behold, I have given him as a witness to the peoples, a ruler and a commander for the peoples. Behold, you will call a nation you do not know and a nation which knows you not will run to you because of Yahweh your God, even the Holy One of Israel.
For he has adorned you with beautiful glory. Seek Yahweh while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh and he will have compassion on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts nor are your ways my ways, declares Yahweh. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
For as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bare and sprout and giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so will my word be which goes from my mouth.
It will not return to me empty without accomplishing what pleases me and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. For you will go out with gladness and be led forth with peace. The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn bush, the cypress will come up and instead of the nettle, the myrtle will come up and it will be to Yahweh for his renown for an everlasting sign, which will not be cut off. Did you hear some verses in there?
You know, you've heard before, right? Some verses that are probably even repeated elsewhere in scripture, beginning with the very start. So once again, chapter 55 is like what we read in 54. This is comfort for the afflicted, the promises of God that are given to his people that he will deliver them.
And in fact, the deliverance that he gives, according to what we're reading here in chapter 55, won't cost you a thing. God will pay everything. And we read that back in 53, with the Christ who was to come to give his life, he would take our sins upon himself and it would please God to crush him as to bear the iniquity of us all.
So now we continue to hear about the benefits that we will receive because of the sacrifice of the savior. And that's what's being said here in Isaiah 55. All of this has been paid on your behalf. So come and take without cost.
And again, that's how we start here in verse one. Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. It has already been bought and paid for by someone else.
And this passage that we read here to open chapter 55 is very much like what Jesus says at the end of the Bible in Revelation chapter 22. We read this starting in verse 16. I, Jesus, sent my angel to bear witness to you of these things for the churches.
I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star. And the spirit and the bride say, come. And let the one who hears say, come. And let the one who is thirsty, come. Let the one who wishes receive the water of life without cost.
That's right out of Isaiah 55. Showing that it is through Christ that we receive those things, that we may take of the water of life without cost, that we may eat the bread that does more than nourish the body, but it gives the soul eternal life.
As Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, the water that I give will bubble up into a spring of water that gives everlasting life. He said to the Jews in John 6, eat the bread that I give you, which will not perish, but gives everlasting life.
And so here we have this call in Isaiah, 700 years before the ministry of Christ, that we would buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. Take and eat, drink.
And what you receive gives everlasting nourishment. Verse two, why do you spend money for what is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is good and delight your soul in richness.
Let me come back to Mark 8. Mark 8 was a chapter that we read from on Monday when I did my introduction to the gospel of Mark. Specifically, I read the section where Jesus asked his disciples, who do you say that I am?
It's a little bit before that where Jesus and his disciples are going across the Sea of Galilee and he was giving them orders saying, this is Mark 8, 15, watch out, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.
And they began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand?
Do you have a hardened heart? Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember when I broke the five loaves for the 5 ,000, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?
They said to him, 12. When I broke the seven for the 4 ,000, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up? And they said to him, seven. And he was saying to them, do you not yet understand?
And they came to Bethsaida and they brought a blind man to Jesus who pleaded with him to touch him. So remember, that's where we picked up there in Mark 8. God gives the blind man sight. Jesus restores sight to the blind man.
And this shows how he gives sight to the blind. And then later on, the disciples clearly see and make a confession that he is the Christ. So Jesus gives them this warning to watch out of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.
The disciples think that he's just talking about physical bread. Again, verse 16, they began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread. And so Jesus says to them, that's not what I am referring to.
I am not referring to physical bread. I'm not referring to physical elements. The leaven of the Pharisees and the Herods will spread and infect the whole lump. And as Jews understood like in Passover requirements that there was supposed to be no leaven in the house, this was an illustration God had given to his people.
So Jesus is applying it and saying, beware of those false teachers, the leaven of the Pharisees, the Sadducees and of the Herods, because you let even a little bit of it in. And as Paul says, reiterates in 1 Corinthians 5, a little bit of leaven, leavens the whole lump.
It ruins the lump if your intention with the lump is to have unleavened bread. So that is the application that Jesus is giving to that and pointing out to them. It's not about what you physically eat.
It must first and foremost be about what you need spiritually, what you eat spiritually. And so here in Isaiah 55, why are you spending money for what is not bread? And this has spiritual application to it as well.
There are a lot of things that we will spend money on and we may expect some spiritual satisfaction. You may not think of buying a new car or something like that as being a spiritual experience, but I think subliminally, we hope that it will be.
We hope that there will be something in our lives that will be answered for, that will be taken care of. We will be at peace now because I have this new gadget. So maybe externally, you understand this is just a material thing that I'm spending money on and buying.
Aren't you sometimes spending money on those things, hoping that they will give you some sort of spiritual satisfaction? Listen, I like new stuff. I like to have things that work, especially things that make my life easier.
I'm not saying that spending money on those things that you don't necessarily need, I'm not saying that spending money on them is wrong or that it is inherently sinful, but don't we sometimes spend money on those things, believing that they will satisfy us in some way?
And so Jesus says, why do you spend money on that, which does not satisfy? Now, going beyond the material things that we might spend our money on, there are other ways people spend money on spiritual things even.
Spending money on Scientology, giving money to Mormonism. In fact, I believe it said, I saw a statistic in this somewhere, that of all the religions in the world, it seems none is more faithful to tithing than the Mormons are.
They are very faithful in their giving and they have a lot of wealth too, a lot of wealth in the Mormon faith, but they are putting money into something that will not save. It is a false Christ that they worship, not the Christ of the Bible.
So they are giving money to that which does not satisfy. It's also a works-based religion. You have to do these things in order to gain the favor of God. That's in their very statement of faith and the way that they interpret the scriptures as well.
There are even some legalistic Protestant churches out there that will say that if you're not tithing, if you're not giving 10 of your income, then you are in sin, you are being unfaithful, God is gonna curse you in some way.
You may be familiar with the prosperity movement that encourages you to sow a seed. And if you sow a seed, the more you sow, the more that you are going to get back. God is gonna make you wealthy and healthy and wise because of the money that you give.
And so there may be some expectation for spiritual return. If I give this money, then I will get so much more back. There are people that give money to politics, believing that the politician that they are donating to will give them all of the spiritual satisfaction that they desire.
But these are just more ways that people spend money on that which is not bread, is not the bread from heaven, as Jesus called himself. In John 6, they give their wages for what does not satisfy. They waste their hard-earned money and their time, their emotions, their souls on things that'll never save.
And so the Lord says, rest of verse two, listen carefully to me and eat what is good and delight your soul in richness. The gospel saves. Belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ forgives you of your sin and it gives you everlasting life.
Listening to God's word is good and your soul delights in the richness of what he offers. And what you will see on this side of heaven may not be health and wealth, but you have that guaranteed for you in the next life.
You will never be sick again. You will never lack anything again. All things provided for you through Christ, who died for you and gave his life as a ransom for many. Let's continue on here to verse three, incline your ear and come to me.
Listen that your soul may live. And I will cut an everlasting covenant with you according to the faithful, loving kindness of David. Behold, I have given him as a witness to the peoples, a ruler and a commander for the peoples.
So this is Isaiah saying here that David was a type of Christ. He wasn't the Christ, but he was foreshadowing. He was a type or a shadow that was pointing to the greater that was to come, the greater David that would come.
He was a ruler and a commander for the peoples. And what is Christ? Exactly that, in a much more magnified way. Verse five, behold, you will call a nation you do not know and a nation which knows you not will run to you.
This is a parallelism here. So remember a parallelism, a Hebrew form of poetry in which a line is said twice in a slightly different way. Behold, you will call a nation that you do not know. So a nation that you don't know, you're gonna call to you.
And the intention here is, or the implication is that you are going to call them you. Like they will be you, you will call them and you will think of that nation as being you. A nation that you do not know, you will call them and they will become Israel.
That's what's being implied here. And a nation which knows you not will run to you that they may become Israel. And this is in reference to the way that Christ would draw in even the Gentiles. Romans 1 16, I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to all who believe to the Jew first and also to the Greek, also to the Gentiles.
And later on Paul saying in Romans chapter nine that God has called to himself, not just from the Jews but also from the Gentiles that we may be a one nation in Christ and all who are in Christ are his people.
Because of Yahweh your God, as verse five goes on to say, even the Holy one of Israel, for he has adorned you with beautiful glory. And how has God adorned Israel with beautiful glory? Because it is from them that the Messiah would come.
Their beauty and their glory is Christ. And so it is because Christ has come from the lineage of Abraham that is called Israel because Christ has come from them. All those who desire that water without price, who desire to be saved, who desire to have their sins forgiven, who want everlasting life, they will run to Christ, the beauty and the glory, the Holy one of Israel.
They will see his beauty and run to him. And so therefore fulfilling this statement, you will call a nation you do not know and a nation which knows you not will run to you. Let's go through the remainder of this chapter a little more quickly.
Verse six, seek Yahweh while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. So now you have an understanding of who he is. Don't delay in coming to Christ. Leave your sin, your worldliness, leave those things which have never satisfied you, come to Christ, take, eat, thirst and be filled, be satisfied and he will give you everlasting life.
Cutting an everlasting covenant with you as said back in verse three, let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh. And he will have compassion on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon.
That is something that the world simply scoffs at today. Even those who would claim to be conservative, like they're not even liberal lefties, but they would still say that this is an absurd notion and you should not forgive those who are guilty of such great evils.
Laura Loomer, who is a very outspoken political, what would she be, a social media influencer, I guess. She doesn't hold any political office or anything like that. But she recently made a statement on social media that God may forgive, but I don't.
And that's absolutely absurd. And what was she referring to? She was referring to a young woman who's been in the news lately for previously having a very pornographic business and now she's left all of that and sought Christ and has been forgiven her sin.
And now what she proclaims is not sexual gratification, but that you can be fully satisfied in Christ. You too can be saved and be forgiven your sins, even sins as evil as some of the stuff that she was doing on the internet with her porn business.
But there are people pushing back against this young woman and saying that you can't be forgiven of these things. You can't be washed clean from this. That is completely contrary to the message of the gospel.
Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh and God will have compassion on him. He will abundantly pardon. That's not the message of the world, even from those who would claim to be conservative.
The gospel is unique to God alone, who offers the grace and forgiveness that can be given to us only through Jesus Christ. And so God says, chapter 55, verse eight, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways, declares Yahweh.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. Paul quotes that at the end of Romans chapter 11. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bare and sprout and giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so will my word be which goes forth from my mouth.
It will not return to me empty without accomplishing what pleases me and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. In other words, my word will save. The plan that I have in store for you, as God is speaking to Israel here, is far greater than anything that you can even imagine.
My thoughts are higher than your thoughts. You know, going back to Isaiah 53, reading about the suffering servant, the one who would be sent, the anointed one sent from God who would suffer and die. And because of his suffering and death, we would be saved.
What are the people expecting? The people are expecting political power. They're expecting emancipation from our enemies. They're expecting deliverance and wealth in this earth, but they do not comprehend and do not understand that the work that God is accomplishing is far greater than that.
And still we see it in the world today. People expecting that there's going to be some sort of political victory. And that's the gospel. That's the accomplishment of the gospel, not the forgiveness of sins and the promise of heaven.
No, no, no.
We've got an earthly kingdom that we have to build. And God is saying, my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways. Your ways are not my ways. As much as many people want to think that, you know, I must have these thoughts because God gave them to me.
And so therefore my thoughts are God's thoughts. My ways are God's ways. God is saying, no, not at all. Your ways are not my ways. And the word that God sends forth, the message of the gospel will accomplish what he means for it to accomplish.
Just as you can see it in nature, that the rain doesn't return to the heavens. You have the water cycle, a little bit of science right here in the middle of Isaiah, right? It's the whole concept of evaporation, condensation and precipitation.
Just as the rain which falls to the earth doesn't return to the heavens without accomplishing that which I sent it forth to do. So my word does not return to me void without accomplishing what pleases me.
God sends forth his message that those who hear it might believe and be saved. God will accomplish what he means to accomplish through the preaching of his gospel in his time and in his way. And so we have this conclusion, the promise of what is received in the message that we have heard and believed in.
You will go out with gladness, the Lord says. You will be led forth with peace. The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you and all the trees of the field will clap their hands, which was one of my favorite Sunday school songs growing up incidentally.
Instead of the thorn bush, the cypress will come up and instead of the nettle, the myrtle will come up. So even though the whole world may be crumbling around us and we see the effects of the curse everywhere, thorns and thistles that are growing up, yet we will understand the fruit of the Lord that leads to everlasting life because of the gospel that we've received through Jesus Christ.
So that though we see this world wasting away, the outer tent in which we dwell, as Paul talks about it with the Corinthians, that which is transient is passing away and we desire those eternal things.
So we can even see the beauty of what God is accomplishing through the wickedness in this world. Instead of the thorn bush, the cypress comes up. Instead of the nettle, the myrtle comes up and it will be to Yahweh for his renown an everlasting sign, which will not be cut off.
And so we have everlasting life through Jesus Christ, our Savior. And this is for the one who comes and buys wine and milk without money and without cost. "'Listen carefully to me,' the Lord says, "'and eat what is good and delight your soul in richness.
"'Incline your ear and come to me. "'Listen that your soul may live.'". Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gospel message that was presented to us today in Isaiah 55. And may that be a thing that feeds and sustains our souls.
Even in these days, we do not lose hope and we do not despair for we know that the promise of everlasting richness is bound up in Christ and is promised to all those who believe in him. Bring us into your kingdom, Lord Jesus, we pray.
Amen.
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