Come. Come. Come. Come!

Introduction

We come to the end of our series in this glorious book, Isaiah. 

What a journey! What kinds of things has God done in your life? What valleys have been raised, mountains and hills made low? What rough ground has become level, and rugged places made plain?

Have you dared to believe that the same God who turned deserts into pools for the generation out of Egypt and then hundreds of years later for the generation in exile is with you and will do it again?

Have you been roused from your slumber? Have you woken up to the new thing God is doing? Have you received from the Lord a new word for a new chapter in your life? 

We do not want the words of Jeremiah to be true of us. The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved (Jer 8:20). 

As the summer is ending, and our Isaiah series is ending, has your heart been converted to Yahweh who alone is God? 

Please don’t say, I was converted 30 years ago.

I mean, Have you turned from your idolatries? Has God captivated your heart today? 

The storyline of these chapters in Isaiah take us from the devastation of judgment to the comfort of God. And why should God come to comfort us and bring us out of spiritual captivity? After all, we like Israel have been rebellious before God. 

And the most ultimate answer was found in chapter 53. The righteous servant died like a rebel and for rebels. Though innocent, he went silently to his death. He took up our pain and bore our suffering. The Lord crushed him for our iniquities. He was numbered with the transgressors and made intercession for the transgressors. 

And because he poured out his life unto death, he was raised and lifted up and highly exalted. 

And because he was punished in our place, all the promises of God, many of which come like rapid fire at us in Isaiah, are Yes to us. 

No shame? Yes.

No disgrace? Yes.

No humiliation? Yes.

No fear? Yes. 

Splendor, strength and joy? Yes. 

Walking, running, soaring like the eagles? Yes. 

So then chapter 54, as we saw last week, was all about glory, growth, and peace. All your children will be taught by the LORD, and great will be their peace. In righteousness you will be established: Tyranny will be far from you; you will have nothing to fear (54:13–14).

So now chapter 55 is all invitation to come. Just in the first verse we’re invited four times to come! Come and make this God and this salvation your home.

Come without money.

Isaiah 55:1
“Come, all you who are thirsty, 
come to the waters; 
and you who have no money, 
come, buy and eat! 
Come, buy wine and milk 
without money and without cost. 

Come. Come. Come. Come!

If you were invited to a red-carpet event—be it the Oscars, the Met Gala, the Grammy awards—would you go?

What if you were invited to the most beautiful and luxurious resort in the world, all expenses paid? Would you go?

What if you were invited to have a conversation with the living person you consider to be most interesting, most brilliant, would you go?

What if it was a concert or sporting event, and you had VIP seats and were invited to a reception afterwards with the star, would you go?

These are the events of a lifetime. Most of us never get this invitation. And yet God’s invitation is open to all, and his invitation dwarfs the Oscars, the Fiji resort, the Super Bowl. But many don’t come.

And they don’t come because they are not thirsty. Or rather, they are thirsty but don’t see their thirst.

See, there’s a wrinkle here.

He says, Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters. That’s great. But then he says, And you who have no money, come, buy and eat!

See, it’s not that some have money and others don’t, so this invitation is only for those who have no money. It’s like when Jesus says to a group of self-righteous people, It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick (Matt 9:12). He’s not saying that some people are healthy and others are sick, and he only came to the sick. His point is, rather, that everyone is sick but only some see their sickness, and therefore only some see their need for a doctor.

And it’s the same in Isaiah. NO ONE has money to buy and eat the salvation of the true God. But many people think they do have money. So they don’t have to come begging, which is the posture you take when you don’t have money.

So the invitation is, Come. Everyone. But you must have no money. You must leave your money and then come.

What is money to us? It’s a currency that gets us what we want, opens doors for us, makes us feel self-satisfied and self-sufficient.

And that’s exactly what God says here you can’t have. I want you to come, but you must divest yourself of your self-satisfaction and self-sufficiency because it’s a farce. My righteous servant died for you. He was pierced for your transgressions. You can’t atone for your own sin. Spiritually, you are poor. Do you see your poverty? Because if you don’t see your poverty, that’s a problem. But if you see your poverty, come. 

You’re ready.

Isaiah 55:2
Why spend money on what is not bread, 
and your labor on what does not satisfy? 
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, 
and you will delight in the richest of fare. 

We have two choices.

First choice, we insist that our money is good, that we can labor our way to satisfaction, which God says, You’re deceived. Your money buys you no good bread. Your labor, no matter how much of it you do, will never get you to satisfaction. 

Second choice, we buy from God without money. It’s the only way he takes us in. If we go this way, he says, we will eat what is good and . . . delight in the richest of fare.

Those are the two choices. My money is good OR I have no money.

Why are those the only choices? Why does God insist that our money/currency is no good?

Because it can’t buy us what we need most.

Isaiah 55:3–5
Give ear and come to me; 
listen, that you may live. 
I will make an everlasting covenant with you, 
my faithful love promised to David. 
See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, 
a ruler and commander of the peoples. 
Surely you will summon nations you know not, 
and nations you do not know will come running to you, 
because of the Lord your God, 
the Holy One of Israel, 
for he has endowed you with splendor.” 

God says, I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. 

God has dealt with humanity by means of covenant. An oath that God makes to humanity, oath which God never breaks. Four of God’s covenants in the Old Testament shape Isaiah 54 and 55.

First, we have the covenant with Abraham. The references to a barren woman, one who never bore a child, and the promise of many descendants who would dispossess nations recall God’s covenant with Abraham (54:1–3).

Next we have the covenant at Sinai. The mention of God as your Maker, the shame of your youth (in Egypt), the reproach of your widowhood (in Babylon as exiles), the surge of anger for a moment (during exile) but the everlasting kindness (in bringing them back) – all point to the covenant at Sinai (54:4–8).

Next we have the covenant with Noah (which came before the previous two). Verse 9 reads, To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again.

All of that by way of reminder from last week.

And now we come to the everlasting covenant that is patterned after God’s covenant with David in 55:3. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.

In 2 Sam 7:12–13 God had made a covenant with David with these words. When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 

The eternal throne was given to David’s dynasty. Obviously, when the people receive Isaiah’s words, there is no king on David’s throne. And so, to the exiles this must’ve felt like a joke. And yet, David’s dynasty never died – until the King of kings and Lord of lords from David’s line appeared.

But it’s because of God’s faithful love, his hesed, that he makes an everlasting covenant—what Jeremiah calls the new covenant.

This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you  (Luke 22:20).

These words of Jesus we say every time we take the Lord’s Supper.

And that’s why God insists that our money/currency is no good. It can’t buy us what we need most.

What we need most is the blood of Jesus poured out for our sins. No amount of knowledge, renown, or money can buy this blood.

It’s a gift. All of God’s covenants with humanity culminate in the new covenant enacted by Jesus’ death. And the meaning is that God has fulfilled all his promises. Noah failed. Abraham failed. Israel failed. David failed. But David’s true son, Jesus Christ, never failed. He’s the one who by his life and by his death and resurrection opened the way for you and me and the nations to come to God. Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations you do not know will come running to you, because of the LORD your God.

But we must come without money. We can only come to God through the blood of Jesus. 

Has your heart been converted so that you know that you have no money and are so very thirsty for the waters and hungry for the food that God alone can give you?

Be freely pardoned.

Isaiah 55:6

Seek the Lord while he may be found; 

call on him while he is near.  

The invitation continues. Seek the LORD. Call on him. But notice that you can’t seek the Lord and call on him indefinitely. You can do these things only while he may be found, while he is near. 

What does that mean? Under what circumstances is God not available to be found? I’ll give you three.

(1) The most obvious one is death. You cannot turn to God after you die. If you die as a wicked person, in your sins, you will remain a wicked person forever.

I was quite touched back in May when Melissa Taylor was baptized. It was a powerful testimony. One of her lines reflected exactly this verse in Isaiah. Seek the Lord while he may be found. 

She said, When Covid hit I was working as a nurse on the frontlines at a hospital. I began panicking, thinking if something happened, and I faced death sooner than I had imagined, where would I go eternally? He would certainly tell me “depart from me, I never knew you.“ I had never pursued that true relationship with God. I knew of him but did not know him.

(2) Another circumstance when you won’t be able to seek the Lord is when Jesus returns. It will be too late. We don’t know when he’s coming, but it could be any time.

(3) Another one is your hardness of heart. If you have any softness toward God right now, but you’ve not given your life to him, maybe you say to yourself, I’ll come to him in a few years. I like my life now. Don’t count on it. Your heart may become so hardened that you can never find your way to God.

There is urgency. God’s invitation goes out to all, but it does have an expiration date. For millions upon millions of people who met their death far from God, it was too late.

Isaiah 55:7–9
Let the wicked forsake their ways 
and the unrighteous their thoughts. 
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, 
and to our God, for he will freely pardon. 
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, 
neither are your ways my ways,” 
declares the Lord. 
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, 
so are my ways higher than your ways 
and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

When you turn to the Lord, what do you find? Mercy. He will freely pardon. Full forgiveness. No shame. No doghouse. No payback. But we must forsake our wicked ways and thoughts.

There’s a comparison between our thoughts and God’s thoughts, our ways and God’s ways. And there’s a nugget of gold in that comparison.

Verse 8 is one of the most well-known verses in Isaiah. My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.

How do we usually interpret that verse?

It takes you eight years to be able to get pregnant, and when you finally do, you have triplets. And you say, That’s not how I would’ve done it, but his ways are not our ways. So we interpret the verse to mean that God is sovereign and he does as he pleases, and he often surprises us or bewilders us. So there’s mystery in God, but he is God, and his ways are not our ways, neither are his thoughts our thoughts.

We also interpret this verse to mean that God’s thoughts and ways are higher than ours, which is exactly what verse 9 says. So they’re not only surprising. They’re better.

And that’s true. All of this is true.

But here’s the nugget of gold in these verses.

Verse 7 says, Let [the wicked] turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. 

Then verse 8 starts with the word FOR – For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.

So verse 8 is an explanation of verse 7. He will have mercy and freely pardon because his thoughts are not our thoughts.

Do you get that?

Remember Jonah and Nineveh? Remember that God was ready to forgive the Ninevites if they just set aside their wickedness and turned to him? What about Jonah? Not only did Jonah not want the Ninevites to be forgiven, but also he was angry with God for doing so. 

Remember what he says when God relents from destroying them? He says, See, this is why I didn’t want to come. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity (Jonah 4:2). 

Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh because he knew God’s character really well and didn’t like it. 

God is spring-loaded to forgive, to take the hit, to spend it all to save the one. We are spring-loaded to make others pay, fight for what’s fair, and take our share. And that’s probably the biggest difference between God’s character and ours. 

A few months ago my wife and I were coming back from our 25^th wedding anniversary celebration, and it was wonderful. Such a gift! We were at the airport waiting for our flight, and at one point while we were waiting for some food, I left my carry-on bag with her while I went to check on our flight. But when I came back to the spot where I left her, the food was ready, so she had picked up both our carry-on bags and was beginning to make her way to the gate. And she was not happy. She was angry. Why did you leave your bag with me? Now I have to carry everything.

And within milliseconds I got so angry that she got so angry. The whole thing felt so unfair. I’ll spare you my thought process. We both apologized to each other. Anna much faster because she’s more humble than I.

But here’s why I share that unfortunate end to our lovely trip. I didn’t have to try to get angry. My heart was spring-loaded with anger, with a sense of unfairness. You’re going to pay for how you’re making me feel. 

That’s what God means when he says, My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. I’m spring-loaded to forgive. You’re spring-loaded to make others pay.

God is slow to anger.

If you could break open the heart of God, you’d find mercy right in his core. But if you break open the human heart, you’d find vengeance at worst, justice at best—but it’s a justice that is quick to excuse ourselves and make others pay. So it’s a warped sense of justice. 

This is why it’s tragic that people won’t come to him, that people prefer to die in their sins.

Have you experienced the free pardon of God? You will know that you have because it will become your favorite thing about God. Unlike Jonah, you will love that God is gracious and compassionate because you will be the first and quickest to admit that you need his grace and compassion.

You’ll be the first to admit that you have no money, and none is needed – because the servant of the Lord has paid it all.

Isaiah 55:10–11
As the rain and the snow 
come down from heaven, 
and do not return to it 
without watering the earth 
and making it bud and flourish, 
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 
so is my word that goes out from my mouth: 
It will not return to me empty, 
but will accomplish what I desire 
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. 

Again, remember who’s receiving this word: The exiles who have a hard time believing that God has a new word for them, and the word is good.

So as this whole section is coming to a close, God again reminds them that his word is as sure and effective as the rain. The rain comes down from heaven, waters the earth, makes it bud and flourish so that it yields seed and bread. It’s why we’re alive – because rain comes down from heaven predictably and with power.

So is my word that goes out from my mouth, he says. That’s a great encouragement to people like myself whose whole vocation is declaring this word. God’s word does not return to him empty but accomplishes what he desires and achieves the purposes for which he sends it.

This will all happen. And we have the advantage of reading these words from the vantage point of knowing that they all came to pass. Some fulfillment is still future, but they’ve come to pass.

The Lord brought the exiles back. They rebuilt the temple. The son of David has come and accomplished all that chapter 53 announced, and he’s been summoning the nations, with great success, for two millennia now.

Come without money. Be freely pardoned. Go out in joy.

Go out in joy.

Isaiah 55:12–13
You will go out in joy 
and be led forth in peace; 
the mountains and hills 
will burst into song before you, 
and all the trees of the field 
will clap their hands. 
Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper, 
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. 
This will be for the Lord’s renown, 
for an everlasting sin, 
that will endure forever.” 

What an incredible end! You will go out in joy.

Going out recalls the mighty throng coming out of slavery in Egypt by the mighty arm of the Lord.

And now going out is what this whole section has been about. You’re going out of Babylon, returning to Jerusalem, but more importantly, returning to your God.

And for us going out is what the whole Christian life is about: coming out of the slavery of sin, seeking the forgiving heart of God, casting aside our Jonah-ish angry hearts, and rejoicing that the servant of the Lord, Jesus Christ, died as a rebel and for rebels like me.

This is why the verse says, You will go out in joy. Joy. Why so much joy? Because God freely pardons and I can come to him without money, which is awesome news, because I have none.

Your currency—be it knowledge, connections, acclaim, dollars, beauty, family strength, or a dozen other things—cannot buy you what you need most:

The Lord God. The Holy One of Israel. The Creator of the ends of the earth. The Redeemer. He is everything your heart longs for.

He will lead you in peace.

The peace of God, shalom, is his desire and purpose for the world and for you.

The mountains and hills burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. What’s this poetic language about? Even the creation joins in shalom, the renewal of all things because of the work of Jesus, the servant of the Lord.

No more thornbushes and briers. The curse on the ground will be gone. This will be for the LORD’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.

He will make all things new.

So I leave you with this thought.

Yahweh alone is God. Have you received his invitation? Do you hear him pleading with you?

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.

The cost of your salvation was borne by God’s suffering servant, Jesus. His salvation is free to you, infinitely costly to him. Why will you die in your sins?

Seek the Lord while he may be found. The invitation is time-bound. You don’t have unlimited time. 

Jesus says, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Come to him today. Come without money. Be freely pardoned by the death of Jesus for your sins. And go out in joy.