Well, good morning. Hope you are all well today. Please turn with me, if you would, to Isaiah chapter 55. Isaiah 55. We'll be going through all 13 verses. Isaiah 55. And my question for you this morning is that what is it that satisfies you? Or what is it that you're seeking in life? What is it that you think is going to fill you? And what, for what do you labor and strive? What is the goal of your life? Is your heart's longing in keeping with God's gracious will for you? This morning we'll see three points in the text of Isaiah 55 that I believe will help us to answer this question. We'll see the offer of God's grace, the holiness of God's grace, and the power of God's gracious word to his people. So let's go ahead and read the text this morning, Isaiah chapter 55, verse 1. Isaiah writes, come everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me and eat what is good, and delight yourself in rich food. Incline your ear to me and come to me. Hear that your soul may live, and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and a commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know. and the nation that did not know you shall run to you because of the Lord your God and the Holy One of Israel for he has glorified you. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there, but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace. The mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress, instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle, and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. It's the word of the Lord. So, Introducing the book, Isaiah chapter 1 verse 1 says, this is the words of the oracle, the vision of Isaiah, the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, that's king Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. So Isaiah was prophesying toward the end of the Judean kingdom, the Davidic kingdom, before the exile. And you see that he had a relatively long prophetic ministry over four different kings' times. And Isaiah 1 Verse four, he says, ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly. They have forsaken the Lord. They have despised the Holy One of Israel. They are utterly estranged. It was a time of wicked kings and wicked people in Judah. So remember, Judah is the place where Jerusalem is, where God said he would have his name to dwell. And yet it was a time of idolatry and faithlessness. There was shedding of innocent blood that's condemned in the book of Isaiah. There was rejection of Yahweh in favor of idolatry. There's a time of falling before their enemies. So we had warring or raiding bands coming in from different groups that were actually prophesied all the way back to Deuteronomy. Economic and security crises in the nation of Judah. Within Isaiah's lifetime, the northern kingdom of Samaria was taken away. to Assyrian captivity by Sennacherib. And God promised the judgment of the nation of Judah and Israel as well as future restoration. So he had a plan in the midst of and through their rebellion and ultimately their ultimate restoration. And there's going to be finality of peace, Isaiah says, under the leadership of the Messiah, who Isaiah prophesies, he must first suffer on behalf of his people. And that's in Isaiah 53, the famous passage. And then they will have, and he will have God's will prosper in his hand after he suffers. So, Isaiah 53, 10. So today we're looking at one of the sections of comfort. It's a call to believe the promises of God. And this falls in the second half of the book, which is full of the promises of the Messiah. So, Isaiah can be divided into two major sections. Chapters 1 to 39 are mostly oracles of judgment against Judah, against surrounding nations like Babylon, and other nations, Moab. And there's also promises for future restoration. Chapters 40 through 66 turns the focus to the Messiah. The coming Messiah is prophesied even earlier in the book, but the focus really shifts to him later in the book. And it's in the Messiah that ultimately the people of Judah and the people of Israel will find restoration. and salvation, and not only them, but he said, Isaiah says, he's to be a light to the nations. It's too little a thing that he would restore the nation of Judah and Israel, but he is sent forth as a light to the nations. This section of Isaiah is rich in the grace of God toward his people Israel and Judah. His audience is Judah and Jerusalem, which includes many idolaters who followed in the sins of King Solomon and King Ahaziah and King Ahaz and others. And this passage is filled with imperatives. So as you read it, just think about the commands that God is giving to His people. These are calls to repent, to return to Him, a loving God, the covenant-keeping God, Yahweh. So let's look at our first point this morning, the offer of God's grace. The offer of God's grace. Verse one, come everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. And he who has no money, come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without price. So Yahweh's calling out to his people, he's offering to quench their thirst, and feed those who are penniless, those who have nothing. He says, come, buy and eat. There's an imperative, as I said, he says, your translation may say come, you may see that word hoe, hoe. The idea there at the beginning is alas or woe. Like, oh yeah, or ah, there's the idea of grief or sadness in light of all the sins of the people of Judah and Jerusalem that have rejected their God, that have rejected Yahweh. He says, ah, you sinful people, come. It's a call to respond. It's a command from their loving God to come to them. And note the wordplay here. He says, buy without money. Imagine there's a marketplace teeming with vendors hawking their wares. and you come hungry and thirsty, and they say, they cry out to you, buy without money. A purchase that involves no funds is a free gift, is it not? What gets exchanged when there's no money to pay? Only a gift can be given. Buying wine and milk without money implies you get something of value without a payment. Someone else must have paid for it. And this, I believe, is an inference to just two chapters before in Isaiah 53, the suffering of the servant, Isaiah 53, four through 11. There's a shift in this section of the text because the comfort, I believe, is an inference to the work of the Messiah. Verse two, why do you spend your money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which does not satisfy. Listen diligently to me and eat what is good and delight yourselves in rich food." So there's a term here, he says, spending money that's literally weighing out silver. And this particular phrase refers to the purchase of bread. So they would weigh out silver in this particular phrase for specifically the purchase of bread. And so Isaiah says, why are you Acting to purchase bread for what is not bread. It's not going to sustain you. And why do you work for things that don't satisfy? Why do you toil? Yahweh says his people Judah are pursuing broken cisterns, as Jeremiah says. Things that don't satisfy. They're pouring their effort into things that give them nothing. They're pouring their effort into vanity, into nothing. There's no value in the things they buy, even though they toil for them. God graciously offers them good and rich food for free. That rich food, the idea there is to be satiated in the fatness of your souls, that you can be satisfied in the In the desire that you're seeking, it's found in the person of Yahweh. John Oswald writes this, when people could have rich spiritual life for nothing, why would they weigh out silver for what is not bread? That single verb, weigh out, suggests that toil includes the monetary payment for one's work. So that in paying for something, the person is not merely giving precious metal, but he's actually bartering his labor. In other words, He's using up himself for something else. And these things don't satisfy because they're vanity. This contrast, Oswalt said, between the working for nothing and receiving for nothing is at the heart of the Christian understanding. Labor to justify oneself in God's sight produces only death. But ceasing from one's own efforts and receiving the free gift of Christ's atoning death is to have eternal life. Let me read that one more time. Oswald says, this contrast between working for nothing and receiving for nothing is at the heart of the Christian understanding. Labor to justify oneself in God's sight produces only death, but ceasing from one's own efforts and receiving the free gift of Christ's atoning death is to have eternal life. Romans 6.23 says that, does it not? For the wages of sin is death. The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. Next, Yahweh tells his people to listen diligently. literally listening, listen to me. It's a Hebraism where they repeat the verb, there's usually an imperative in there. But to careful listening, there's the idea of careful listening there. And he says, God promises those who are attentive to him rich food, there would be great benefit to them if they simply listened. If they were careful to listen to the word, that would be wisdom for them. Verse three, incline your ear and come to me, hear that your soul may live, and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. There's an echo here of Proverbs, is there not? Solomon tells his son to listen, incline your ear to me, listen. There's a deference in this concept of inclining the ear. It has to do with humility. Imagine a shepherd calling his herd of sheep, and those that hearken will bend their ears at his voice and come to him. Jesus says that in John chapter 10. My sheep hear my voice and come. Yahweh promises life to those who hear. So we've seen the promise of free water. We've seen wine, milk, and bread that's acquired by coming. and buying without money, without price, rich food, which delights, it's only acquired by listening, by responding to the word of God. And finally, now life itself. To those who listen, he says, I'm going to make a covenant, an everlasting covenant with you. And it's based upon my loving kindness to David, which I made in faithfulness. My steadfast, sure love for him. Remember that David was given a covenant that forever God would put, keep someone on his throne. That there was always going to be a descendant of David that would be on the throne. And both of those concepts are present in this covenant that God says he will make. with Judah. It's not a conditional covenant as the old Mosaic covenant, which they broke. That was a conditional covenant. But he offers both that idea of hesed, which is loyal love, or loving kindness, or steadfast love, and faithfulness as well in this covenant. It's an eternal covenant. Coming to Yahweh then means sustenance, life, delight, and love. God's offering all these things without money, for free. So the promise connected with David hints at the Messiah there. We see that earlier in the book. Isaiah 9, 7 says that he's going to sit, the Messiah is going to sit on the throne of his father David. 11.1, 11.10, 16.5, he also mentions to Jesse, his father, but the idea there is the Davidic line, the Messiah is certainly to come from David. He will be of the house of David, the shoot of Jesse, and the root of Jesse, ruling as the Davidic king, on his throne. So there's a physical promise here. This is not just a spiritual promise where Christ reigns in heaven. No, there's going to be a literal physical throne here on earth where Jesus is going to reign. That's what Isaiah says. This covenant is made with Judah and not only with her Messiah. He's offering the covenant to his people Judah and Israel through his Messiah, the greater David. Let's read verse four. Behold, I made him, that is David, a witness to the peoples, a leader and a commander for the peoples. So Yahweh tells his people Judah that he gave David as a witness. It's not maybe normally the way that we think about David as a testimony or a witness to the nations, a witness of himself. And that we can think all the way back to the battle with Goliath. And the words that David proclaimed to Goliath, that all the nations may know that there's a God in Israel. That was the purpose of that battle, was the glorification of Yahweh. And you see that later on as well. Psalm 18, 49, he says, for this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations and sing to your name. So David is also a prophet. He's prophesying as well of the greater David to come, who will do the same. And yet David himself was surrounded by nations, and those nations had to submit to him, and it was for God's glory. Psalm 1843, So David, was given as a witness and a commander and a leader for the peoples. It's a picture as well what the Messiah would do, right? The greater David is not just going to rule those local nations around the land of Israel, but all the earth is going to submit to the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, right? He's gonna rule them, Psalm 2 says, with a rod of iron. He's going to reign over them. Let's look at verse 5. This is an interesting verse because you won't see this at the surface in the English, but Isaiah is actually switching from a plural form, plural masculine form of you, to a singular masculine form. And then he also switches to a singular feminine form at the end of the verse. And there's significance here. Yahweh seems to be actually speaking to Messiah himself. He says, a people that did not know you will run to you. And to his people, he says, God will cause the nations to run to him and to his people because he has glorified you. In other words, Yahweh is saying, you, Messiah, will call a nation that you did not know, and the nation that did not know you, Messiah, will run to you because of Yahweh, your God, and the Holy One of Israel. And at this point, it seems that he changes the audience because he has glorified or beautified you, Judah, Israel." In other words, the beautification of Judah and Israel through the Messiah is going to cause these nations to stream to Jerusalem. And we see that earlier in the book in chapter two when God's going to raise up, physically raise up the land of Israel, there's gonna be differences in topography. And if you've gone to Israel, or you've seen the pictures, there's mountains everywhere, and those mountains are gonna be shifted around, things are gonna be moved around when Jesus comes. But people are going to come to the land of Israel, and they're going to come because of the beautification of Israel, and ultimately because that beautification comes through the Messiah himself, through the Lord Jesus Christ. So we've seen the gracious offer of Yahweh to his people of Israel and Judah, buying water and milk and wine and bread without money, without price, acquiring delight just by attentive listening, getting life through humble hearkening to their shepherd, And finally, there's an eternal covenant of loving kindness and faithfulness, which is tied to the promises given to David. And all of this is going to be fulfilled again through the Messiah, the greater David, to the people of Judah. So let's look at our second point this morning, the holiness of God's grace. And I think I didn't give you a title. The title for this sermon is God's Holy Grace. So this point, I think, is key in this passage. The holiness of God's grace. Let's look at verse six. Isaiah 55, verse six. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Again, there's that command to seek and to call. Note that there's a temporal nature to this calling. He says, while he may be found. The idea there is there is a time when you may seek him and there's a time when you may not. We know that that time is limited by our life, our span of life on this earth. There's a limit to this seeking because opportunities to return to Yahweh end when life ends. Call upon him while he is near. And that idea of calling upon Yahweh or calling upon the name of Yahweh goes all the way back to Genesis 4.26. And people began to, after the birth of Seth, men began to call upon the name of Yahweh. It's a reference to faith. The nation of Judah here is commanded to seek God, Yahweh, that covenant-keeping God, the one who is I am, while they can, to call on him while he is near. Those offers for individual salvation will come to an end at the end of physical life. There is no second chance. But for those who are still alive and breathing, they have opportunity to repent and seek the Lord and come to him. Verse seven, let the wicked forsake his way. and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord, and he will have compassion on him. And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." So, Isaiah is writing this. from his perspective, right? We've seen the message, the words of Yahweh. Now Isaiah says, this is what you need to do. You need to seek the Lord. You need to repent because he is willing to forgive you, right? His salvation, his forgiveness is great. His compassion is great. The idea there is return to the Lord that he may love him. that he may be gracious to him and to our God, identifying with the God of Israel directly. When you come to the Lord, when you seek him, that he is your God. Paul says in Galatians 2.20 that Jesus is the one who loved me and gave himself for me. We identify directly, personally, with God. He's our God. In Romans 2.4, Paul writes that God's goodness should bring men to repentance. We would think, yes, it's the justice and the righteousness, the fearful wrath of God that would turn men from sin. And that can happen at times. By the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil, right? But Paul says that God's goodness should be that which brings men to repentance. Why is that? Because God's goodness is so great. His mercy and his grace are a holy mercy and grace. The offer of grace should be that which draws us. It should make us want to change our thinking, to leave our old thinking in ways for the loving, abundantly forgiving God. Our God, says Isaiah, he's the God of Israel, the God of Judah. God's compassion and forgiveness comes on those who forsake their ways and thoughts. It's a great forgiveness. It's an abundant pardon. It's a merciful love that is toward the wicked when they turn from their wickedness, when they humble themselves before him. And just a word on the idea of repentance. This view here of forsaking and turning is a picture of repentance, is it not? Repentance is not perfection. It's not cleaning your life up and then coming to God. No, it's a new direction. The focus is not so much on myself as it is on the one that I'm turning to because he is glorious and therefore I abandon my old idols and I turn to the one who is truly worthy of worship. Acts 20, 21, Paul says, I did not cease to preach to you repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. In 1 Thessalonians 1, 9, he says, your faith is spoken of, he says, that you turn from vain idols to serve the living, true God. So there's a turning from one. It's that 180 of change in direction. Will you change your thinking? That's what the word repentance means. and trust in what God has done is the other side of the coin. Let's read verse eight. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. So prepositions are very important in scripture. The word for here should tell us that the writer is connecting this thought with the previous one. Isaiah says to return to Yahweh, to our God, because His compassion and forgiveness are so great. Now Yahweh speaks and tells us why. His compassion and forgiveness are so great because they're so other. The idea of holiness in scripture is not just purity or separation from sin, but it's separation, it's God's separation, if we're talking about the holiness of God, from his creation. He is not like us. He doesn't think the way that we think, and he doesn't do the things that we would do. He's distinct from his creation. He's completely other. He's so different from us and separated from the way that we would behave. And that is why his forgiveness is great. And that is why his compassionate love is so vast. He is not like us. He is not capricious. He's not vindictive. He's not heartless. He's not cold. He's not careless. He's not flaky or flighty. He's just and he's holy and he's righteous. He's faithful. He's rich in mercy and grace and love. Yes, his wrath is there against sin. He's holy and righteous and he's holy in his grace. It demonstrates his otherness from us. Just how different is it? Isaiah tells us, Yahweh tells us, verse nine, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. So Yahweh says the great height of the heavens above the earth are a picture of the distinction, the otherness of God's ways from ours and his thoughts. God tells Judah that his ways are so distinct from the ways of mankind that a spatial distance that's far beyond human vision is a picture of his otherness, his holiness, his grace. This is a reason to come to him, is it not? Because he is, grace is so great that it's far beyond our capacity to even understand. He's different from us. His great compassion, his forgiveness should draw men to himself because he recognized how low they are and how high he is. So he's other because he's also not like us in our sin, right? He's not like us in our wicked thoughts and in our wicked deeds. He is not like us. He's worthy of coming to. Seek him. Yet God promises to forgive the wicked, the evil one who returns to him, because his grace is holy and his compassion and forgiveness are so great. Thus, there are two motivations in play here. First of all, there's God's justice, which requires Israel and Judah to turn from their sin due to his inherent holiness and complete otherness from their sinful ways and thoughts. They have to turn because God is holy. and God's grace, which is so high and holy that it answers the question, why should God forgive my sin? Why? Am I beyond forgiveness? Is not Israel beyond forgiveness? Have they not sinned so greatly? Have we not sinned so greatly, brethren? Is there any sin too great for God to forgive? Yahweh's answer is that His grace is greater than our thoughts and our ways. He's not limited by our thoughts or ways because He's far greater than us. He's holy in all ways, including in His grace. So let's look at our final point this morning. The power of God's gracious word. The power of God's gracious word, verses 10 through 13. Let's look at verse 10. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there, but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it." Note again, there's another preposition here. God's ways are higher and his thoughts are higher. They demonstrate his otherness. They demonstrate the greatness of his mercy, his grace, and his love. Now Yahweh compares the hydrologic cycle to his word and the power of it. So in the ancient Near East and today as well, the rain and snow are essential for survival. For those people that are agricultural, they depend on those rains. It's a dry land, and they need to have the rain and the snow to survive. Without rain, crops would die and people would die, animals would die. Note the effect of the rain and snow. He says they water the earth. And it causes it then to bring forth. The idea of fruit bearing or begetting, almost bringing forth children. It's that sprouting, that miracle of life that God has packed into a single seed. When water and heat come, that that seed sprouts. It produces a plant. Note the yield. Yahweh says it gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So there's continuation of life because the person can, the farmer can continue their work to plant the food for which God will provide. And then bread to the eater, the very thing that he offers for free in the very first verse. It's his gift. Judah was an agricultural society. They depended on the rains. They understood this analogy very well. God has a purpose. He's sovereign over these processes and what they produce. And this physical picture is a picture of God's sovereignty over his word that he is proclaiming. He parallels the rain that comes down from heaven and the word that goes forth from his mouth. Both will produce a response. He guarantees there will be a response. His word literally says, the word here says, it literally accomplishes his delight or desire or purpose and it succeeds or rushes, speeds toward that for which he sent it. There's no stopping the freight train of God's will through His Word. There's nothing that can stand in His way. He's rushing toward His own purpose. It's going to be successful. It's going to fulfill His own delight, His own desire. The thing that He delights in is going to be fulfilled through His Word. Whatever purpose that He sent it for, And God's word in this context specifically is connected with his grace toward Judah. He calls them to repent as his love and his great forgiveness should convict them for their sin and should induce them to return to him. His word has a purpose here for them and whatever he says will certainly succeed. There's nothing that will return empty. Not a single promise will fall to the ground. Every word that God has said will come to pass. That's what Isaiah is saying here. That's what Yahweh is saying here. That every promise is going to be fulfilled. So what is the promise? Let's look at verse 12. For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace. The mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Note again, preposition four here. God's word here is connected to his promise to Judah to go out and be led forth in joy and peace. There's a promise that they are going to survive, not only survive the conquest or the attacks or the judgments that God has in store for them for their sin, but ultimately they're going to be restored, he says, in joy and peace. And he says even the topography is going to reflect that. The mountains are going to ring with cries. They're going to burst forth with singing and the trees will all clap their hands. There's going to be a joy that is going to be exhibited in the land because of God's promise. And remember, his promise has to be fulfilled. Every word is going to succeed for that which he sent. The purpose that he sent it for is going to be fulfilled. Let's look at verse 13. Instead of the thorn will come up the cypress. Instead of the briar will come up the myrtle. It will make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. So God is going to replace plants typically associated with curses, right? The briars, the thorns, thistles. He's going to replace those things with majestic trees, right? The cypress and the myrtle tree. And he says that they are going to be a sign. They're going to be a continuing sign that will not be cut off. What is the significance of a sign that God gives of these trees in place of these cursed plants? It's a promise of peace and enduring protection for the nation of Israel. Never again will they have to be afraid because God is amongst them and God is going to restore them and God is going to cause them to be in the land. That implies that those people are going to repent, does it not? Because God cannot live amongst his people unless those people have changed hearts. God is going to change them, and we see that, and we'll see that in a minute as well in the book of Romans. Why will God redeem his people? Why will he bring them out with joy and peace? Remember, he's not like us. He doesn't think the way that we think, and he doesn't do the things that we do. His ways are so other, his thoughts are so other, so different from our ways because he's holy, because his grace is holy, because his word is sovereign, and because he will accomplish his purpose for Judah and Israel, and it will be for their good. So we've seen the offer of God's grace, we've seen the holiness of God's grace, and we've seen the sovereignty of God's gracious word. How might we respond to this in light of the fact that we're 2,700 years removed from the time of Isaiah? We're a group of people that the Bible says is a mystery called out from every tribe, tongue, and people, and nation. A mystery revealed or hidden in the old and revealed in the new. It's the church of Jesus Christ and those who are not yet believers among us in this congregation. Please turn with me to John chapter 6. John chapter 6. We'll be reading from verse 24. John 6, verse 24. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, just a background on this. So Jesus had just fed a very large group of people with just a few loaves and some fish. And then he crossed over the water with his disciples in the night. He walks on water for a period. So he does a number of miracles. And the crowd then comes to him on the other side of the lake in boats. They saw that he was not there, nor his disciples. They themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum seeking Jesus. They're looking for him. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here? Jesus answered them, truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor, do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him, the Father, God, has set his seal. Then they said to him, what must we do to be doing the works of God? Jesus answered them, this is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. So they said to him, then what sign do you do that we may see and believe in you? What work do you perform? Our fathers eat the manna in the wilderness, as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. They said to him, sir, give us this bread always. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. So the bread that's offered for free, Isaiah 55, verse one, Jesus says he is that bread. Flip the page over to chapter seven, verse 37. On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water." So Jesus offers, again, the same offer. There in Isaiah 55, all who are thirsty, come. Why? Because he is the living water. He is the living bread from heaven. He is the incarnate word of God, John tells us. He's offering this to his people, is he not? He comes, he came to his own, John 1 says, and his own did not receive him. They rejected him. Peter says in Acts 3, 15 to 16, they deny the holy and righteous one. They put him to death on a tree. But this was all part of God's plan. Remember, God's ways are holy. His ways are holy. He's not like us. His grace is holy. He doesn't think like we do. Please turn with me to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. reading from verse 20. Paul says this, speaking to the Corinthians in the context of divisions It's back up to verse 18. He says, for the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart. Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom. It pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. Remember, God's ways are not like our ways. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified to those who are called, sorry, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. But to those who are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that as it is written, let the one who boasts boast in the Lord. God's so holy in his grace and his mercy that he doesn't do things the way that he does, the way that we would think. And that should cause us to be humble before him. We should praise him in humility and thanksgiving because he's chosen us in his grace. He chose the foolish things to shame the wise. The wise of this world reject the suffering Messiah because of their pride. but it's the grace of God. If you come to Christ by faith, it's the grace of God. His grace is holy and he doesn't do things the way that we do. He doesn't think the way that we think. Turn with me, if you would, to Romans chapter 11. Romans chapter 11. Verse 25, God still has a plan for his people, Israel, and every word will be accomplished. Romans 11, 25. Actually, let's back up to verse 12. Romans 11, verse 12. Speaking of Israel, he says, actually verse 11, so I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? by no means. Rather, speaking of Israel, through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles so as to make Israel jealous. God has a plan that's different than the way that we think. His ways are higher. If their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean? God has a plan still. Let's go to verse 25. Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers. A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way, all Israel will be saved, as it is written. The deliverer will come from Zion. He will banish ungodliness from Jacob. And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins. God has promised he's going to save That small group, that physical nation, that hotly contested small piece of land that's about the size of Harris County, he's going to save those people because every promise is going to be fulfilled. Not one promise will fall to the ground. Verse 28, as regards the gospel, they, Israel, are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. He cannot take those promises back. He will not, because his character is such. He's a faithful God. For just as you, Gentiles, at one time were disobedient to God, but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that the mercy shown to you, by the mercy shown to you, they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience that he may have mercy on all. Oh, the depth of the riches in wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments, and how uninscrutable his ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor, or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid. For from him, and through him, and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. The holiness, the holy grace of God should cause us to praise him. And that's why Paul ends with the doxology, because when we look at the hand of God upon this world and how he works with people, we don't think the way that he thinks. But God has a plan, and God is great in mercy and grace, and he is going to accomplish his plan. What an encouraging promise for his people. God has declared the end from the beginning and he will accomplish everything for his glory and the good of his people. Secondly, I think we can look again at the question I asked at the beginning. What is it that we delight in? What is it that we desire to be filled with? How does that line up with God's gracious will for us? God calls to believers here not to be filled with the world, but to be filled with the word, to be filled with the word. This is the path to peace, joy, and satisfaction. We will have joy when we look to Christ through his word. Philippians 1.25, Paul says, I want to continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith. Your joy comes in believing, specifically believing the gospel and letting it bear fruit in your life. Letting the word of God, this book, take such place in your life that this is what gives you joy. Because God says, come to me. I will satisfy you. I will fill up your soul. We try often to fill ourselves with so many things in the world, but those things will not fill you. They cannot fill you. You belong to Christ today. Fill yourself with his precious word, his precious promises. As Brother Rene said this morning, we're looking for the kingdom that's to come. It's already a reality. Let's live in light of that. That's the knowledge that's going to help us overcome sin. The knowledge that we're already died with Christ and we're raised up with him. The knowledge of that spiritual reality that we cannot yet see is that knowledge should drive us and should motivate us and will give us the power to overcome sin. Consider yourselves to be dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus, Paul writes. What is it that makes him a delight to us? What is our motivation to seek him? Because he's not like us, brothers. His mercy is so great, his grace is so holy, he doesn't treat us the way that we would treat others. His ways are so high and his thoughts are so other and he is not like us. He's not evil or vindictive. He doesn't hold a grudge. He doesn't give the cold shoulder when we have done wrong to get back at us. He doesn't ignore us. He doesn't look at us with contempt. He's not heartless or cold. He's not spiteful or capricious. He's none of those things. He's loving and gracious, and he's rich in mercy, and he's holy and righteous, and doesn't turn a blind eye to sin. He's faithful. He's with great love and kindness, loyal love, the sure love and kindness that he showed to David. He's united us, brothers and sisters, in Christ, in his death and resurrection, so we belong to him. He loves us. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Doesn't matter what you go through in this life. Nothing can separate you from the love of God. That's a promise that will not fall to the ground, brethren. Everything will work together for good. Every time we forget about His love, we need to look again at the cross. We need to look at what Christ has done and see our sins there, and the great wickedness of our thoughts and our ways, and see the great chasm between our thoughts and ways and His thoughts and ways. And yet see that Jesus took upon Himself the suffering for our great sin, because great is His compassion toward us. His grace is holy. It's so holy, it's so other, it's so different. And finally, third, there's a warning here in this passage. Is there not a warning? My dear friend, if you've come here today and you have not yet trusted in the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, if you've not trusted in Him to save you, please remember it's a temporary, temporal availability to this offer. It's not going to last forever. God says, seek Him while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, the man of iniquity his thoughts, and turn to Yahweh and he will love him. He will turn to our God and he will have compassion on him. Great is his forgiveness, great is his pardon. You don't know when your life will be taken from you, but 10 out of 10 people die. Hebrews 9.27 says, it's appointed for man once to die and after that to judgment. There's a promise of judgment. If you're a young person today, don't comfort yourself with the thought that perhaps one day you'll turn to God, you'll turn to Christ when you're good and ready, when you're finished with all of the sins that you want to go through. You have no promise for tomorrow. In fact, Isaiah 2.22 says the only guarantee that any of us have is the breath that's currently in our nostrils. We have no guarantee for another. Seek the Lord now, call on him now. Forsake your old sinful ways and thoughts that reject Christ, your old idols. Turn from those idols to the true and living God, the one who offers you bread for nothing, who offers you life for free. Hearken, bend your ears, humble yourself. He will save you, he will change you. True satisfaction, true wisdom, true life is only found in him. His word does not return empty. It will accomplish its purpose. It will speed for that which he sent his word, the purpose that he sent it for. If you reject him, the word you've heard will be for judgment against you one day. Accomplishing His purpose of justice. Because God accomplishes His purpose. Every time the Word is spoken, every time the Word is preached, He's going to accomplish a purpose in that. But my prayer is that it's for your salvation. So please turn to Him today. If you don't know Him, turn to Him today. Trust in Jesus. His grace is holy. He's not like us. He's rich in mercy. He gives you a promise of eternal life. He says, everyone who comes to me, I will not turn away. Confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, that he's God. Believe in your heart, God raised him from the dead. You will be saved. Please humble yourself before him today. Receive his gracious offer by faith. And then please come to one of us afterward if you have any questions. I'll be glad to talk with you. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, you are such a gracious and kind and merciful God that you have demonstrated your holy grace, your holy mercy, your holy love toward us, unfathomable ways toward us, Lord, that we are those that have known what the right way is and yet done what is wrong. We've pursued evil. We've pursued broken cisterns. We've worshiped idols, Lord, instead of worshiping the true and living God. We pursued our own desires instead of those that would glorify you, our creator. And yet, Lord, you've given us your gospel, your good news. You sent your own son to be the satisfactory payment for our sin, so that everyone who turned to him by faith has the promise of full and free forgiveness for all sin, promise of eternal life, promise of union with Christ, that we would be with him, that we would be free from sin, from pain, from all the things of this life that go along with the fall of sin, Lord, that we would be united with him. Lord, we look forward to that day. Pray for anyone here that has not yet trusted in you, Lord. May they call upon the name of Yahweh. May they call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Yahweh, Lord. I pray that they would come to him by faith, and be changed and be saved. In Jesus' name, amen.