Isaiah 55:6-55:7
THE GREAT INVITATION
It was a cold, winter day. A carcass, on an ice floe, floated slowly down the Niagra River. An Eagle, flying overhead, spied the easy prey below, and descended upon it. He began to eat. As he did, the water of the river began slowly pushing the flow toward the falls. But could not the eagle, stretch forth his great wings and fly? Could he not, at the very brink of the falls, leap the safety of the air? Had he not done so a thousand times before? So slowly, he continued to eat. As he waited, the water of the river began pushing the floe faster and faster and closer and closer to the falls, until the roar of the falls began to echo throughout the canyon. He waited until the very mists of the falls began rising above his head. Finally, he stretched forth his great wings to fly.
Unknown to him, his talents, sunk in the frozen flesh of his prey, and sunk in the ice of the floe, had frozen solid. His fait was sealed. He struggled and he struggled and he tried to get away, but he could not, until at last the floe went over the falls and unto the rocks below. He had waited too long. (Knight’s Master Book of New Illustrations).
I believe that’s what Isaiah was thinking of when he warned in Isaiah 55:6 “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, and call ye upon Him while He is near.” Please open your Bibles this morning and turn with me to …
- Isaiah 55:6-7
Look with me please as we discover together, why we should seek the Lord, How we should seek the Lord, and When we should seek the Lord. First, Why we should seek the Lord. As we look at this passage this morning, I believe we can discover four reasons why we should seek the Lord. First, Apart from God, there is no peace. Second, apart from God there is no pardon. Third, apart from God there is no hope, and forth, apart from God there is no fruit.
I. WHY WE SHOULD SEEK THE LORD
- v6
1. Apart from God, there is no _PEACE____
Several years ago, I worked for 10 weeks one summer, working to help start a church in North Illinois. For 10 weeks we went door-to-door, trying to tell people about Jesus. As the people opened their doors I would look into their eyes, and I could see such an emptiness, such a longing, such a void. They had tried many things to fill that void. They had tried marriage. They had tried sex. They had tried work. They had tried money. They had tried alcohol, and many had tried drugs, but nothing had filled that void. Nothing had given them peace.
Often I would say, “Please let me tell you about Jesus. Please let me tell you about God. Let me tell you how you can find that peace, how you can find that joy.” Time and time again the doors were closed in my face.
How many times I thought of Jesus, standing on a hill looking out over Jerusalem and crying, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I have longed to draw you to my side, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not.”
Oh my friend, apart from God there is no peace. But not only is there no peace apart from God, but there is also no pardon apart from God.
2. Apart from God, there is no _PARDON___
- v7
Verse 7 says that not only will God pardon, but that He will pardon abundantly. Do you see that? God will pardon us abundantly. Much like the prodigal son, returning home, hoping to become a slave or a servant to his father. His father, seeing him coming up the road, runs to him, rushes to him. He grabs him, wraps his arms around him, and crushes him to His chest. He placed a ring upon his hand, clothes upon his body, shoes upon his feet, and slaughtered the fatted calf.
Even so, does our heavenly Father wait today to abundantly pardon you. Jesus says, “Come unto Me all ye who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”
Oh my friend, apart from God there is no peace. Apart from God there is no pardon, and apart from God there is no hope.
3. Apart from God, there is no _HOPE_
Those of you who know me well, may know that before I was married, my closest and dearest friends were my parents and my brothers. As a result, some of the most painful times I have endured were when I went away to seminary. Living alone in a trailer in Arkansas, I can remember times when such waves of loneliness and homesickness would come that they would threaten to overwhelm me. Even so, does our soul suffer when it is separated from God.
I remember as a young child, watching on TV as the soldiers returned from the Vietnam War. I remember watching as the planes circled the airfield. I remember watching the plane come in and land. I watched as the stairs were pushed to the sides of the planes. As I watched, the soldiers would descend the stairs, and each one, as he reached the bottom, would stoop and kiss the ground.
Those soldiers had been separated from home. Many had been captured. Many had been imprisoned. Some had been tortured. But, through it all they endured. Through it all they had one dream, one hope that kept them going. The hope that one day the suffering would end, that one day they would return home.
Do you remember the account of the rich man and Lazarus? The Bible records that the rich man cried out to Abraham, and asked that Lazarus be allowed to come and dip his finger, and place a drop of water on his tongue to cool the flames that were consuming him. But, he could not.
Let me tell you my friend, if you die apart from Jesus Christ, there is no hope. There is no pardon. The suffering never ends and you can never go home.
Apart from God there is no peace. Apart from God there is no pardon. Apart from God there is no hope, and forth, apart from God there is no fruit.
4. Apart from God, there is no Fruit.
- John 15:1-5
> John 15:5 (HCSB) “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me.
Jesus says in this verse that we can do nothing without Him. What does He mean by that? He doesn’t mean that you can’t get married without Him. He doesn’t mean that you cannot have a career without Him. He doesn’t mean that you can’t build a house without Him. He doesn’t mean that you can’t save, or set aside for retirement without Him. No, what He is saying in these verses is that He is the source of everything that lasts, of everything that is important. He means that you will accomplish nothing of value, or nothing enduring without Him.
You cannot be a godly parent, without Him. You cannot rear godly children, without Him. You cannot be salt and light, you cannot be a godly witness and contribute to the kingdom of God, without Him. Jesus says, “You will make no lasting, life-changing, and soul-saving impact, without Him”.
You can build a church building, but you will never fill it with changed lives, without Him. You can sing songs, but you can never worship, without Him.
Let me tell you my friend, you will never find the peace you are seeking, the forgiveness you need, the hope you crave, and the impact you want, without a relationship with Jesus Christ. You must seek the Lord.
Together we have seen why you seek the Lord, let’s think for a minute about how you should seek the Lord.
II. HOW WE SHOULD SEEK THE LORD
- v6
In Old Testament days, the word translated here as “Call” was used primarily in 3 ways. First, it was used as a call from man to God asking for help. Second, it was used to describe one person asking for assistance from another. Third, it was used to describe the cry of an animal, mortally wounded and crying in pain.
Just as an animal with its foot stuck in a steel trap cries out in pain, realizing he is helpless to release himself, even so are to come before the Lord with a broken and repentant heart, crying out for God’s salvation.
The account is told of a young lady who was riding on a bus one day. A few stops after hers, a group of young people got on the bus and sat down. After they got on and were seated, an elderly gentleman got on. They laughed at him as he fumbled with his change and dropped it as he was trying to pay for his fare. None of them got up to give him their seat. They were loud and rude to everyone on the bus.
The lady recorded how she thought to herself that what those people really needed was to know Jesus. Imagine her surprise, when they went to get off the bus a few stops later, to discover that they were carrying Bibles and that they were on their way to a Bible Study.
How sad it is that there are so many who believe that being a Christian is all about saying a few words. How sad it is that so many mumble a few words, and might have even gotten wet, but have never professed that they really need a Savior and have never allowed Him to change them.
> Psalm 51:17 The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. God, You will not despise a broken and humbled heart.
How are you and I to seek the Lord? We are to do so with a broken and repentant heart.
We have seen why we should seek the Lord, and how we should seek the Lord. Let’s think for a moment about when we should seek the Lord.
III. WHEN WE SHOULD SEEK THE LORD
> v6 Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him, while He is near.
Does that mean that God can not always be found? Does that mean that God is not always near?
Growing up, the only source of heat we had in the house was a fireplace. Each winter it was my brother & my responsibility to keep the wood box full.
Now, in the early days my dad thought that we were too young to use the chainsaw, so the majority of the wood we used we had to cut with an axe. It didn’t take me long to discover that the time when that wood was the softest, and the easiest to cut was when it was green and full of sap, for the longer that wood lay there and the longer it dried out, the harder and header it would become until some of that which had laid there for several years was nearly petrified and almost impossible to cut.
Even so does our heart become hard as we put off the prompting and the calling of the Lord. Each time the Lord calls and we refuse, each time He calls and we refuse to listen, our heart becomes harder and harder until it’s nearly impossible to hear the Lord.
It is possible to so harden your heart that it’s nearly impossible to hear Him speak. Some of you have gotten so good at quieting that still, small, voice, that He hardly even speaks anymore.
Some say, “Gene I’m already a Christian. I’ve already made that call. This passage doesn’t apply to me.” If you’ll look with me again at verse7, I believe you’ll find you’re mistaken. I believe you’ll see that these verses apply to all of us, the saved and unsaved alike.
- v7 “Return” that implies that at some point in the past the man has been with the Lord, at some point in the past he has had a relationship with the Lord, but at some point in his life something came between he and the Lord and instead of choosing the path righteousness, he instead chose to turn and follow a path of his own.
What path are you on today?
> 1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
Let me ask you this morning, are you running the race, are you living the Christian life in such a way that you can win it? Are you giving it your all? Is Christ, and your relationship to Him a priority in your life? Are you in it to win it?
Do you remember when you first accepted Christ? Do you remember how you eagerly & excitedly looked forward to studying your Bible? Are you reading your Bible with anticipation today? Do you remember when you first held your child, that son or daughter the Lord gave you? Do you remember how you told the Lord that you were going to be a godly dad, a godly mother? Let me ask you, when was the last time your children came into the Living Room in the morning and saw you reading your Bible? When was the last time they heard you lifting their names in prayer before the throne of heaven? Do you remember how you used to visit the people in the neighborhood and invite them to church? Do you remember when you first realized that everyone who dies without a relationship with Jesus Christ is condemned? Do you remember how you used to pray for the salvation of those who live around your house? When was the last time you came before the Lord with a broken heart and a tear in your eye, crying for the lost souls around your house?
Do you remember how you used to stop and pick up the children down the street and carry them to church or to Sunday School, because you wanted them to know the Jesus you had found? When was the last time you invited some of them to church? When was the last time you prayed the Lord would work in their hearts and that they would be saved? When?
Do you remember when you first became a deacon, when you first began teaching that Sunday School class? Do you remember how you so eagerly dug into the Bible and spent time alone in the Word because when you stood before your people you wanted to come before them with a word fresh from God? Let me ask you, “Are you preparing like that now or has your preparation become slipshod and lazy?”
> Hebrews 12:1 Therefore since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that lies before us,
Do you remember the first time you read that verse? Do you remember how you committed to getting those things out of your life so you could run the race to win it? Do you remember how you said you wanted your life to count for something and that you wanted to get everything out of your life that might keep you from being a great witness or that might keep you from being all God had called you to be? Do you remember? Let me ask you, how are you running the race today? Are you running it to win it, or have you allowed things to come between you and God that are slowing you down, impacting your walk and destroying your witness?
These verses apply to everyone, and the Lord is calling for changes now!
CONCLUSION
The steam ship, Central America, on its maiden voyage from New York City to San Francisco harbor, sprang a leak in mid-ocean and began to go down. A distress signal was sent out over the airwaves. A rescue vessel rushed to the scene. Upon reaching the scene, the captain of the rescue vessel sent a message to the Central America asking, “What is your problem, and how can we help?” To which the captain of the Central America answered, “We are going down, wait along side until morning.” The captain of the rescue vessel answered. “Send your passengers now.” Again the captain of the Central America answered, “Wait along side until morning. The captain of the rescue vessel again radioed, “Please, send your passengers now, send your passengers now.” The captain of the Central America, perhaps concerned that his passengers might be injured in the darkness, or concerned about their safety in the transfer between ships answered once again, “wait along side until morning.”
Dawn showed the rescue vessel an empty sea. During the night the Central America had gone down with all of her passengers and all of her crew. They had waited too long. (Knight’s Master Book of New Illustrations).
This morning you have been given an opportunity. And just like Central America, you have been given many opportunities before. Oh my friend, you are not promised another hour, you are not promised another day.
