Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 55

Verses 1-13

1. Intro:
   1. Dave LeCompte – IHF update.
   2. Most middle-class Americans tend to worship their work, to work at their play and to play at their worship. As a result, their meanings and values are distorted. Their relationships disintegrate faster than they can keep them in repair, and their lifestyles resemble a cast of characters in search of a plot. -- Gordon Dahl
   3. OUTLINE: His Invitation; His Thoughts; His Purpose.
2. COME! (1-13)
   1. HIS INVITATION! (1-7)
   2. (1) Ho! – Alas, ha, ah, woe, come. (4x’s come)
      1. See Rev.22:17.
   3. Come – by coming they are indicating they are trusting in & relying on Him for salvation & are agreeing to obey His commands. (The Bible Knowledge Commentary)
   4. Everyone(i.e. worldwide) [Millennial blessings]
   5. Thirsts – “Ice cold glass of milk; fresh O.J.; Sun tea on a hot day.”
      1. An individual must recognize they have a thirst that needs to be quenched.
      2. I remember being at a restaurant once where every time I took a sip of water they would immediately fill my cup. [coffee being topped off]
      3. Often times in our witnessing, we are asking people to drink when they aren’t thirsty. That’s why he called us to be “salt”!
      4. The woman at the well was thirsty!
   6. Wine & milk – symbols of complete satisfaction.
      1. Water – refreshing & cleansing. The water of life where if a man drink he will never thirst aain.
      2. Wine – the wine of joy, exhilarating, comforting, & making glad the heart of man.
      3. Milk – milk is almost the only article of diet which contains everything that is necessary for the support of man.
         1. Wine cheering & invigorating the soul;
            Milk its nourishing quality.
   7. Buy…w/o money & w/o price – a paradox (i.e. salvation is a free gift)
      1. Everything for nothing. Salvation gratis. Eternal life as the pure gift of heaven’s charity! (Spurg)
      2. How scary for those charging for it!!!
         1. It broke our hearts when we found out some people were selling our free tickets to our medical clinic in Haiti once.
   8. (2) Why spend…your wages on that which doesn’t satisfy?
      1. “Hey, hey wait a minute this is So Cal, careful here!”
      2. He’s asking how can you be interested in other things besides Himself, as He is the only One who can bring genuine satisfaction.
         1. Satisfaction is the issue.
         2. He’s not against things. He’s against things that are purchased w/the intent to satisfy!
         3. Throughout all history man has tried to find satisfaction through many things other than God.
            1. Solomon gave it the best attempt in Eccl. 2:1-11.
      3. The lost sinner is bankrupt, spending all that he has on things which can’t satisfy.
         1. Some still love the mirage over the oasis!
         2. Some are still satisfied with the husks of pagan religion!
   9. Abundance – or “fatness”.
      1. (TWOT) Since fat animals were considered the healthiest and the fat was regarded as the best part of sacrificial animals, the metaphorical usage of “prosperous” or “rich” is easily understood. The righteous man is described as a fruitful tree, “full of sap” in his old age. (Harris, R. L., Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., & Waltke, B. K. (1999, c1980). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed.) (Page 199). Chicago: Moody Press.)
      2. Q: Does God want us to have the abundant life?
      3. Jn.10:10 “I have come that they may have life & that they may have it more abundantly!”
   10. (3) Everlasting Covenant – A permanent throne, a lasting dynasty.
   11. (6) Seek the Lord while He may be found –
       1. I heard a story the other day of a man who encountered trouble while flying his little airplane. He called the control tower and said, "Pilot to tower, I'm 300 miles from the airport, six hundred feet above the ground, and I'm out of fuel. I am descending rapidly. Please advise. Over." "Tower to pilot," the dispatcher began, "Repeat after me: "Our Father Who art in heaven...'"
          1. Call while you still can!
       2. What are you seeking? He wore his galoshes when it rained. He brushed his teeth TWICE a day
          He was examined by doctors twice a year. He slept with the windows open.
          He stuck to a diet with plenty of fresh vegetables.
          He relinquished his tonsils and traded in several worn-out glands.
          He golfed -- but never more than 18 holes at a time.
          He got at least 8 hours' sleep every night.
          He never smoked, drank or lost his temper.
          He did his "daily dozen" daily.
          He was all set to live to be a hundred…
          The funeral will be held Wednesday.
          He's survived by eight specialists, three health institutions, two gymnasiums and numerous manufacturers of health foods and antiseptics.
          - He forgot God.
   12. (7) Forsake both your way & your thoughts.
       1. Our thoughts are the 1^st baby steps that help us choose our way.
       2. Our thoughts become the very breeding ground for sin.
       3. Forsake them both.
       4. “The price of admission to eternal life is repentance & faith, plus nothing.” (Wycliffe Bible Commentary.)
       5. Turn & Trust!
   13. Do you have abundant sin? He has abundant pardon!
       1. But the hardness of my heart is abundant! - But my pride is abundant! - But the selfishness of my life is abundant!
       2. But the pardon of my Lord is abundant…Super Abundant!
   14. HIS THOUGHTS! (8-10)
   15. (8,9) So we place this in the category of Deut 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.”
       1. This cancels the useless & debilitating question “Why?” in face of life’s difficulties; it opens the door to the blessed reality of faith in a God who is truly God! (J. Alec Motyer)
       2. Q: So what do you do when you don’t comprehend God? (Trust!)
   16. Though contextually he’s more strictly speaking here to His great pardon!(6,7)
       1. His thoughts & ways are something no one would have dreamed of.
   17. Thoughts concerning grace exceed human imagination.
       1. Remember the seraphim in Is.6, in which the 6 winged angels used 2 of their wings to cover their face’s. It seemed to be a gesture that expresses reverent restraint in God's presence.
       2. We should not pry into his secrets. We are to be content to live with what he has told us.
       3. Reverence excludes speculation about things that God has not mentioned in His Word -- we must be content not to know what Scripture does not tell us. (J.J. Packer, Hot Tub Religion, p. 56.)
   18. (9) How much higher is heaven? (immeasurably)
       1. God – Incomprehensible…yet knowable!
   19. HIS PURPOSE! (11-13)
   20. (11) Just as rain from heaven causes vegetation to grow, so God’s word accomplishes precisely what He determines.
       1. When a local preacher died, his relatives found he had neatly tied up the messages he had delivered and placed a card on top of them with this inscription: "Where has the influence gone of all these sermons I have preached?" Underneath he had scribbled in large letters, "OVER." On the other side this answer was found:
          "Where are last year's sunrays? They have gone into fruits and grain and vegetables to feed mankind. Where are last year's raindrops? Forgotten by most people, of course, but they did their refreshing work, and their influence still abides. So, too, my sermons have gone into lives and made them nobler, more Christ-like, and better fitted for Heaven."
   21. Q: Why was the Bible not aloud in the former Soviet Union?
       1. One Soviet official responded, "We find that the reading of the Book changes people in a way that is dangerous to our state!”
   22. (12) Trees personified as clapping hands (poplar tree)
   23. (13) Curse overturned.
       1. Rom.8:19 “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.”
          1. From Groans to G-r-r-r-eat!
       2. Sin turned the garden into a desert, but grace transforms the desert into a joyful & fruitful garden.
       3. “Abundant satisfaction, pardon, & joy are available to all who accept God’s gracious invitation.” (www)
   24. Oh Lamb of God, I come, I come!