Sermon – Invitation To The Lord’s Salvation

Sermon – Invitation to the Lord’s Salvation (Hope in The Day of Adversity)

Scripture Lesson: Isaiah 55:1-13 “Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink, even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk, it’s all free! Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food. “Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised David.

See how I used him to display my power among the people. I made him a leader among the nations. You also will command nations you do not know, and peoples unknown to you will come running to obey, because I, the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious.”

Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously. “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands! Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”

Introduction – God has created mankind in His image and likeness, to live in His presence in the fulness of Joy. “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”(Psalm 16:11) Being away from God presence, leaves us thirsty. Mankind separated from God is always searching for something that will satisfy his longing.

Isaiah 55 is an “Invitation to the Lord’s Salvation.” An invitation to deliverance and wholeness which offers every spiritual blessing from Christ that the Father has provide. Every thirty soul may come to him speedily, come in repentance. If you do, you will find His grace infinite, His word powerful and life giving, and your joy will be full. The invitation comes from a Father God who made us and knows every detail of our lives. The coronavirus, civil unrest, street violence, debt crisis, national and personal, strained relationships and corruption on every side did not catch God by surprise. The rising tide of fear, anxiety and an increasing sense of vulnerability in the world did not leave God confused. In times like these, God calls us back to himself. So, what are God’s people to do with their dissatisfaction and hunger? God calls us to reflection in times like these.

Consider Ecclesiastes 7:13-14, “Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked? When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future.”

C.S. Lewis said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” C.S. Lewis

Books of the Bible like Ecclesiastes and Job, shows how God allows our lives to be inject with intentional mystery and confusion to foster our dependency upon Him. So, Isaiah 55 God invites us to come and receive the fulfilment and joy we seek. His Word to call us to reflection, to repentance, and finally to dependence upon Him.

Although the book of Isaiah was written to Israel, it has wonderful implications for believers today because it reveals the character of God and His disposition to His people. God reminds us that people won’t come unless they hear His call and people won’t respond unless they are thirsty. When they come, they will see that they have forsaken God and his way in their quest for something to satisfy your thirst. Everything they found left thing thirsty and unfulfilled again. God’s invitation calls us to return to God in repentance. Going your own way and thinking your own thoughts led to bondage instead of freedom. If men respond to God’s invitation, they can be sure that God will abundantly pardon your waywardness and forgive their wickedness. God delights in mercy, not wrath. God is speaking to a discouraged people in captivity who have lost much, whose future was uncertain and whose life was hard. These verses unfold His path for moving His people from their thirst and longings to fulfillment, peace, and joy. In this moment, how will you respond to God’s invitation? Listen today to what God might be saying to you. Is God calling you to reflect on your life or return to Him in repentance or to rebuild your relationship with Him and His people? Is God calling you to rejoice in your day of prosperity and be a witness for His Glory? Focus on the message of this chapter and its application to your situation. In our noisy, very busy, fast paced lifestyles, there is little times to pause and reflect, yet God calls us to personal reflection.