Turn with me, if you would, to
Isaiah chapter 55. Isaiah 55, I bring greetings
and love from my congregation, from my pastor, from Janet, from
those of us there at the congregation. We keep you in mind as I know
you do us. And it's always such a privilege
and a blessing just to come see family. and to be together. I appreciate this time together. I pray and trust that the Lord
will be with us this morning. I pray and trust He has been
and continues. The message this morning where
we look here through Isaiah chapter 55 has already been outlined
in what Lionel read and what we've sang. I mean, it went step by step
through my outline. We read in Psalm 24, praise ye
the Lord. We read, praise you, me. You
put your name there, and we'll see this in Isaiah. You, Jonathan,
praise the Lord. And we read that in our text
here in Isaiah 55 verse six, seek ye the Lord. We sang, praise ye the Lord.
We read in Psalm 24, who is this King of glory? He's the Lord
of hosts. Who is this? Praise ye the Lord. Praise who? The King of glory. Who is this King
of glory? The Lord of hosts. The Lord that
created the heavens and the earth. The Lord that spoke it into existence. The Lord that holds his creation
in the hollow of his hand, right here. His ways are higher than our
ways. That's in this text also. That enormous, powerful, sovereign
Lord, we also sing about, He walks with me. My goodness. And
He talks with me. How can that be? How can that
be? Praise ye the Lord, the Lord who? The King of glory, the Lord
of hosts. Who? The one who walks with me. That can only be found in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Right? That's the whole outline
of this text. We sang about Him and read about
Him already this morning. Seek ye the Lord while He may
be found. Call upon Him while He is near. We'll focus on verses 6-9, but
I'd like to read the whole chapter and then we'll come back and
focus on verses 6-9. Isaiah says, Ho, every one that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters. He that hath no money, come ye
buy and eat. Yea, come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. Wherefore, and again, every time
you see that word ye, you can put your name there. Jonathan,
wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? Your
labor for that which satisfieth not. Hearken diligently unto
me. Eat that which is good. Let your
soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear. Come unto me,
here, and your soul shall live. I will make an everlasting covenant
with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given
him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the
people. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not,
and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee. because
of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, for he
hath glorified thee. Seek ye 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 unto the Lord,
and he will have mercy upon him. To our God, for our God will
abundantly pardon. He will much pardon. For my thoughts
are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith
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 cometh down,
and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth
the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give
seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, so shall my word
be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto
me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For you shall go out
with joy and be led forth with peace. The mountains and hills
shall break forth before you in singing, and all the trees
of the field shall clap their hands instead of the thorn. shall
come up the fir tree. Isn't that what was promised
to Adam? Thorns and thistles. But instead of the thorn of this
flesh, instead of the thorn of this world, instead of the thorns
shall come up the fir tree. Instead of the briar shall come
up the myrtle tree. It shall be to the Lord for a name, for
an everlasting sign, that thou shalt not be cut off. Verse six,
again, that's where we'll start our text. And I'll break it down
into a few different words that we'll focus on. Isaiah says,
Seek ye the Lord. Seek. Seek ye, right? Yes, the Lord God elect the people. Lord
Christ was a perfect sacrifice for those people. The Holy Spirit
calls those people. Isaiah says, seek ye the Lord.
As a group, yes, us here together. Seek ye, you, me. I'm almost positive it was, that
was sitting right there. And I remember Frank was preaching. I had driven in, this is 20 something
years ago. And he talked about Ruth and
Boaz, how the truth of the gospel is the bread. Ah, you dip it
in that gravy. Now that's the truth for me,
for me. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. Call upon him while he is near. that first word, seek, and we'll
turn to quite a few scriptures this morning. Seek, where? Where do we seek the Lord? And
we should never, for a moment, get past the fact that the Lord
would communicate with us, that the Lord, God Almighty, wills
himself to be known, to us, by us, that he would will that we
who are completely unable to comprehend who he is in and of
ourselves, to us, who not only can we not comprehend him, we
have no right to. We have no right to comprehend who he is.
What a privilege it is when someone allows themself to be known to
us. You think of who, what a privilege
it is for you to make yourself known to somebody else, right?
You don't just do that with anyone. You don't share your honest thoughts
with just anyone, who you really are and what you really think.
You don't just share that with just anyone. What a privilege
it is that God makes himself known to us. Isn't it special
when you love someone enough to share who you really are at
your core with them? because that's the way it is
with us. What you see out here isn't always what you see in
here, right? My outside might be, it often
is, sadly, to my shame, very different from my core, that
you would reveal your core, the good, the bad. I heard someone
on the radio saying this morning that phrase, warts and all, that
you would, you had to really love someone to let yourself,
your true self be known. But our God isn't different on
the surface versus who He is at the core. He is who He is
all the way through, on the surface and all the way through. He is
sovereign and He is loving and He is merciful and He is just
and He is right and He is good all the way through. And that
He would reveal Himself and call us to Him, that He would see
fit to do that. We shouldn't get through that. Shouldn't get
past that. In love, he reveals himself to
sinners. How can this greatness, his greatness,
be communicated unto us? Exodus 15 says, who is like unto
thee, O Lord? Who will I compare the sovereign
Lord to? Isaiah 40 says, to whom will
ye liken God? Or what likeness will you compare
unto him? How will he make himself known? There's nothing to compare
him to. He can't say, I'm like this.
He's not. How will he make himself known to my flesh? Our text says,
seek ye the Lord. Where? In the wilderness, God
revealed himself to Israel in different names, right? The very first name being I Am. Sovereign. He also revealed himself
in different places, different aspects of his character in different
times, in different names, in different places. And none of
those aspects ever diminish when he reveals another one. When
he reveals his sovereignty and he reveals his mercy, one doesn't
dip in order to show the other one. He is sovereignly merciful
and He is mercifully sovereign. Neither one dips in order to
show the other. He doesn't back off His justice not one ounce
in order to show mercy to undeserving sinners. How can that be? Righteousness
and truth have kissed each other. How can that be? Only in Christ
and His perfect sacrifice So God revealed himself to Israel
in different places, different aspects of his character in different
times, and doesn't diminish one aspect in order to show another
one. He is perfectly good while he is perfectly just in Christ.
Turn over to Exodus chapter 19, and we'll look at first place
that the Lord revealed himself here in Exodus chapter 19. first
place was Mount Sinai. Exodus chapter 19 here, starting
in verse 11. And be ready against the third
day, for the third day the Lord, Jehovah, will come down in the
sight of all people unto Mount Sinai. Thou shalt set bounds
unto the people round about, saying, take heed to yourselves
that you go not up into the mount. Don't touch the border. Our text says, right? Seek ye
the Lord. Come to the Lord. To Mount Sinai,
it says, don't go up into the mount. Don't touch the border.
Whosoever touches the mount shall surely be put to death. There
shall not a hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned or
shot through. Whether it's beast or man, it
shall not live. When the trumpet soundeth long,
they shall come up to the mount. Now look down, verse 16. Came
to pass on the third day in the morning, there were thunders
and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount. The voice of
the trumpet exceeding loud so that all the people that was
in the camp, they trembled. Moses brought forth the people
out of the camp to meet with God. They stood at the nether
part of the mountain. Now, if you would turn over with
me to chapter 20, here in Exodus, verse 18. All the people saw
the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet
and the mountains smoking. When the people saw it, they
removed. They stood afar off. They sent
him to Moses, speak thou with us. and we will hear, but let
not God speak with us lest we die. How did God reveal himself
first in his sovereignty, in his perfection, in his power,
in his might, in his holiness? And the people said, Moses, speak
thou with us, right? In my sinful state, in any state
outside of Christ, I don't want anything to do with the sovereign
God. few responses that natural man
has shown in the scriptures. This is one, Moses speak thou
with us and we will hear, but let not God speak with us lest
we die. Another example is when we, in our sinful self, were
faced with the Lord himself on this earth, and what did we do?
We put him out of our midst, we killed him to get him out
of our midst. Another example of what, Our flesh will do, left
to ourselves. When Lord returns, when Lord
returns in the sky, what will we do? Our flesh, when we see
this sight, will we bow to the power of a sovereign God and
ask for mercy? No, we ask for the mountains to fall down on
us and hide us. My goodness. We see him first in Mount Sinai.
This, the sovereign I am, We should never get too far from
that. He is sovereign. Just as he was
at Mount Sinai and the people said, let not God talk with us
lest we die. That holy and just and perfect
and all powerful God who is absolutely right to destroy sin and sinners
out of his sight. And absolutely right to do so.
that sovereign holy God that even charges the angels with
folly, right? The cherubims who fly and cover
their head and cover their feet. Isaiah says, seek ye the Lord.
Where? We seek him first and we seek
the holy and powerful God who's absolutely terrifying to sinners.
What the Israelites again say there in verse 19, they said,
Moses, let not God speak with us lest we die. We seek God who
is too holy to be approached by sinful man. We seek this God
that is holy and just, and he will punish sin. And that that
attribute of himself will never diminish and will never change.
Seek ye the sovereign God of Mount Sinai. Seek ye the Lord, Isaiah says.
Where? Turn over to Exodus chapter 25. Seek ye the Lord. Where? Here in Exodus 25, starting
in verse 17. We seek the Lord at the Ark of
the Covenant. Thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two
cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and
a half the breadth thereof. Thou shalt make two cherubims
of gold. Of beaten work shalt thou make them in the two ends
of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end,
the other cherub on the other end. Even of the mercy seat shall
you make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims
will stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat
with their wings. Their faces shall look one to
the other. Toward the mercy seat shall the
faces of the cherubims be. Thou shalt put the mercy seat
above upon the ark. In the ark, thou shalt put the
testimony that I shall give thee. And there, there I will meet
with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy
seat, from between the two cherubims that are upon the ark of the
testimony, of all things which I give thee in commandment unto
the children of Israel." The Jews use the word Shekinah glory,
God's presence where he is. God's presence where he is in
Mount Sinai. God's presence where he is is
between the cherubims on the mercy seat, where the blood is
on the mercy seat. There he will commune with us.
There he says to Moses, there I will meet with thee. Save God whose holiness cannot
be approached by sinful man. Says, there I will meet with
you and commune with you. There, at the mercy seat. Meet
with God at Mount Sinai. Holy sovereign God says, beast
or man shall not touch it, right? Meet with God at the mercy seat. God says, there I will meet and
I will commune with you. You know, God gave Moses instruction
on how to build the mercy seat before the children of Israel
broke the law. The mercy seat was purposed. I caught myself starting to say
planned. I don't like that word planned when it comes to God,
right? He doesn't design, he purposes. It was purposed before
the children of Israel broke the law. The law wasn't plan
one and the mercy seat plan two. Adam's sinlessness, not righteousness,
but sinlessness, wasn't plan one and Christ's plan two. The
mercy seat was purposed before Israel ever broke the law. Christ
was purposed before the world began, right? Between the cherubims,
God has always communed with sinful man, right there, between
the cherubims, where the blood was sprinkled, where atonement
was made, where God's mercy and justice meet, where the blood
is sprinkled, where atonement was made. That's where God communes
with man. And obviously, we know, this
is a picture of Christ. Here is where God meets with
his people. Our text in Isaiah, and we'll
come back to Exodus, don't lose your place there. Our text in
Isaiah says, seek ye the Lord. We seek him in mercy. In mercy
at the Ark of the Covenant. Seek ye the Lord. We're still
answering that question, where? Seek ye the Lord, where? Seek
him at Mount Sinai. Seek him between the cherubims
at the Ark of the Covenant. Seek ye the Lord, where? Turn
over to Exodus chapter 33. Exodus chapter 33, starting in
verse 9. And it came to pass, as Moses
entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended,
and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked
with Moses. All the people saw the cloudy
pillar stand at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose
up and worshiped every man in his tent door, and the Lord spake
unto Moses face to face. "'as a man speaketh unto his
friend.'" Same God. Same God of Sinai. Holy, sovereign. Same God at
the mercy seat between the cherubims. Holy, sovereign, just, merciful.
Same God speaks with Moses as a man, face to face, as a man,
as unto his friend. My goodness. This same sovereign
God of Mount Sinai, same merciful God of the Ark of the Covenant,
communes with man as a friend, is what the scripture says, as
a friend. How in the world can that be? Moses represents the
law. Mercy seat, where the blood is
applied and law was satisfied. So God and the law are not at
odds. They're not at odds, not a bit.
They're not in disagreement. Cloudy Pillars spoke to Moses
who represents the law face to face as to a friend. There's
no disagreement between merciful God and the law at the mercy
seat. They're not in disagreement.
God, the law, and sinful man in Christ are not in disagreement.
so that sinners in Christ can come boldly. If that word wasn't
in the scripture, who in their right mind would stand here and
say that? To come boldly unto God's throne, this is the same
God of Sinai. How in the world could we be
called in the scripture to come boldly unto his throne if justice
wasn't already satisfied? That's a throne of terror otherwise. I want nothing to do with the
sovereign throne otherwise. In Christ, because mercy and
truth have kissed. The pillar spoke to Moses face-to-face.
It has no issue with the law, as unto a friend. And the Lord
communes with us above the mercy seat. The sovereign God communes
with us above the mercy seat in Christ, face-to-face as a
friend. So the scripture calls upon us
to make our prayers and admonitions known, that we can pray honestly
to the God of creation. Just as God communed with Moses,
God communes through his word with we, his people. Where do
we seek the Lord? We seek the word in love, in
the cloudy pillar, in love. Seek ye the Lord, our text says. Turn over with me, if you would,
to Isaiah chapter nine. I'm sorry, Hebrews chapter nine. Hebrews chapter 9, as we're turning
there, I believe, Lionel, I believe you quoted this in your prayer
too. John 1.14 says, and the word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. We beheld his glory. The glory is of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. Seek ye the Lord in
Christ, in Christ Jesus the Lord. Look here in Hebrews chapter
9, starting here in verse 6. Now, when these things were thus
ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing
the service of God, but into the second went the high priest,
this is the Holy of Holies, alone once every year, not without
blood, which he offered for himself and for the heirs of his people.
The Holy Ghost, this signifying that the way into the holiest
of all was not yet made manifest. While as the first tabernacle
was yet standing, which was a figure, for the time then present. This
was a picture. The tabernacle, the Holy of Holies,
this was a picture for the time then present. Now come down to
verse 11, but Christ Our scripture, our text says,
seek ye the Lord, where do we seek the Lord? Here, in Christ.
But Christ, being come in high priest of good things to come,
by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands,
that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats
and calves, by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Go down a
little further in the chapter to verse 24. Take time this afternoon,
read chapter nine. You can spend some time here
in Hebrews chapter nine. Read through that chapter this
afternoon if you would. Verse 24 says, for Christ is
not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the
figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear
in the presence of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer
himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place
every year with blood of others. For then must he often have suffered
since the foundation of the world. But now once in the end of the
world, which remains until today, we're in the end of the world.
Now once in the end of the world hath he appeared, hath he come,
hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
as it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment. So Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many. Unto them that look for him shall
he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." His glory,
that Shekinah glory, that presence of God. The presence of God was
shown in sovereignty at Mount Sinai. It was shown in mercy
and in justice at the mercy seat. God's presence was shown in love
and communion in the Holy Pillar, nor the tabernacle. All of God's
attributes are met together here in Christ Jesus. That's where,
seek ye the Lord. Jonathan, seek the Lord. Where?
In Christ, in Christ, in the Lord Jesus Christ, who, is 100%,
as we've said, He is 100% at all times, 100% merciful, 100%
sovereign, 100% just, 100% good, 100% loving. He's all, 100% holy,
as we discussed before, He's sovereignly merciful and He's
mercifully sovereign. He's both, He's all. Scripture
says that too, right? He's all and in all, all in Christ. Seek ye the Lord in Christ and
see the God of Mount Sinai, the God of the mercy seat, the God
of the cloudy pillar. See that God in Christ, in Christ. This same God who sovereignly
spoke the world into existence and all things into existence,
who he himself is the sacrifice, right? Christ himself is the
sacrifice by which justice is served, by which atonement is
made, by which the door is opened for man to come to the throne
of mercy, by which the veil was torn from top to bottom. in Christ,
in Christ, who he himself is. He is the mercy seat. He is the
sacrifice. He is the mercy seat. He is the cloudy pillar. We see
God's sovereignty and mercy and love and justice here in Christ. Seek ye the Lord here in Christ.
Turn with me, if you would, to Matthew chapter 17. Matthew chapter
17. Here we see, we see a couple of things. We
see another example of what man in their natural state will do
when faced with the Holy God of Mount Sinai. Even the disciples,
they fell on their face and they were so afraid, right? But here
we see Christ the Holy. at Mount Sinai, Christ the mercy
seat. Here we see all together, in just a few verses, Christ
the pillar, all together, right here. Matthew 17, starting in
verse 5. While he spake, behold, a bright
cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice out of the cloud,
which said, this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.
Hear ye him. And when the disciples heard
it, They heard the voice of God. They fell on their face. They
were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them
and said, arise and be not afraid. When they had lifted up their
eyes, what did they see? They saw no man save Jesus only. The voice from heaven, the mercy
seat, he who communed with them in Gentle, he touched them, right? He who communed with them face
to face in gentleness. All the same, and they looked
up and they saw Jesus only, right? Seek ye the Lord, our text says.
All the attributes of God are met and embodied right here in
Christ Jesus, the Lord. Such that Christ told Philip,
he that hath seen me hath seen the Father, right? I and the
Father are one. And when he said that, what did
the Pharisees do? They took up stones to stone him. That's our response, the response
of natural man. Finally, seek ye the Lord where? Seek. We're still looking at
where. Where do we seek? Seek ye the Lord where? Matthew 18,
verse 20 says, for where two or three are gathered together
in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Where two or three
are gathered there in my name, there I am in the midst of them. I remember very distinctly the
Lord showing to me that I did not know him. Because that's
what we are all born thinking we know him. You can have right doctrine,
which is good. As Henry used to say, you're
better for it, but you're not better off. Better for it. And the Lord showed himself.
As he shows sinners, you don't know me. You don't have a right
to come to me. And that feeling of being lost, that's a good
thing. Right? If it's of the Lord, recognizing
your lost state's a very, very good thing. And I had no idea
what to do. And I thought to myself, there's
one thing I can do. I can be, I know this verse where
two or three are gathered. I'm in the midst of them. So
buddy, I'm going to be there. And if I'm there until the day that
I die, and the Lord never shares another word with me, He's right.
And He's just. I'm determined. I'm not leaving.
I'm going to be where He is. And I thought that was a very
novel thought. I've talked to dozens of people
since then. I find a lot of people relate to that same feeling.
Apparently, that's something that the Lord brings to people. Ye the Lord. Where? I know one
place he's at. Where two or three are gathered
together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. I'll
be there. Where two or three are gathered. Next we look at that word ye.
Seek ye the Lord. So who's Isaiah talking to? Seek
ye the Lord. As we kind of open the service
with, he's talking to each one of them individually. This is
a call. And if he gives children ears
to hear, they will hear and they will respond as a sheep. This
is also a commandment. This is a commandment. Seek ye
the Lord, you seek the Lord. I was praying back before service
started that this time that we have together be, a blessing
to the spirit, and that it doesn't feed the flesh at all. Neither
yours nor mine. I read an article, the Moose
Parks posted on Facebook, that you never see a sheep in a circus.
That's not where they are, right? Sheep don't entertain. Sheep
follow their master's voice. You want to find a sheep? Find
the shepherd. Sheep are right behind. The only
time you ever see a sheep in a circus is when they're lost.
Seek ye the Lord. It says, individually, personally. In Matthew, Mark, Luke, and also
in the book of the Revelation, is all quoted, he that hath ears
to hear, let him hear. He that hath ears to hear. So
again, I put my name there. Jonathan, seek ye the Lord while
he may be found. Call upon him while he is near.
In Christ, there is no barrier. There's no barrier between us
and a holy God. There's no barrier, there's no
reason for a barrier in Christ, in Christ. Second Corinthians
states, for all the promises of God in him are yay and amen. They're all yes. In Christ, all
the goodness and all the mercy and all the joy, all the promises
of God, all the goodness of God, the communion with God himself
in Christ is yes. Such that we are, Gosh, I hate
to use that word invited. That's not what I mean. So we
are called to come and that we are commanded to come. Oh, that
I would be a sheep and just hear his voice, right? And just come
and put all my... What's the song say? Where sin
and sense molest no more. For that to just be gone and
be a sheep and hear my savior's call. my sovereign Savior, my
merciful Savior, my Savior that communes with sinners face-to-face
as a friend, that I would hear his call and just follow as a
sheep. No barrier. There's only two
responses when I hear that. Jonathan, seek ye the Lord. And
both drive us straight to God. One response is that the Lord
has revealed my sin against him and revealed his goodness and
who he is, even though we see through a glass darkly. God willing,
we do see, because he's given us eyes, that we see him, that
my heart cries out to him. That's one response. And to these,
the Lord says, come, not just however long ago, not just 30
years ago, not just yesterday, come. to whom coming, come today. Come, that he still calls us
to come to his throne. Still, we're still invited in
Christ. He hasn't, bear with me. He hasn't gotten
tired of me yet. He hasn't changed his mind, though
I've given him every reason to. I'm still amazed. Sometime, my
wife and I have been married 19 years now. And it sometimes
amazes me she hasn't gotten tired of me yet. Right? Because she's seen a whole lot
more of me than she knew when she first agreed to this. And
she hasn't gotten tired of me yet. And our God doesn't. There's no reason for him to.
There's no barrier. So we see, we hear, we hear,
and we come. Or I sit there and I do not see
my need of him and I'm indifferent. I'm unmoved. Unmoved. Boy, I drove by a lot
of people who are going about their day today. Going to the
store, going to the gas station, there's a whole lot of people
who are busy, completely unmoved. As would we be, right? As would
we be, completely unmoved. And if I am unmoved, this is
just proof that the scripture's true. Right? I remember Clay
Curtis saying that one. He was talking to somebody and
somebody said, well, I don't believe that. He said, well, that's proof
that the scriptures are true. The scriptures say you won't
believe it. Right? We will come to anything but
Christ. We will believe anything but
Christ. Scripture says you can't come
to me. You won't come to me. We will believe anything. If
anybody's on social media, just see the garbage that's posted
on Facebook. And I don't care what you write, somebody's going
to believe it. Unless it's this. And nobody's going to believe
this unless the Spirit reveals Himself to them. Right? We were
in an Italian restaurant, Bucca di Beppo, one time up in Columbus.
A bunch of us were up there. And they, wouldn't you know it,
they put us in a room, the only room they had that was big enough
for however many of us there were, 20 of us. was a room with
a big circle table and in the middle of the table was a Pope's
head. The Pope! With a little glass cube around
him. Pope's head in the middle of
the table. People came into our room where we were eating and
bowed before that paper mache head. We will believe anything but
Christ. Which is why later he says, my
ways are higher than your ways, right? I get back there to figure,
and I get to thinking too much, and there's my sense again, molesting.
His ways are higher than our ways. I don't see my need of
him. Well, that's just proof that
what the Bible says is accurate. To these I say, as I say to myself,
wake up, wake up. This is evidence of death. My
niece is a nurse. and she goes into a room and
the thing's not beeping and the person, if she sees evidence
of death, she's got stuff to do because she's a nurse, right?
She sees all these signs. This is evidence of death. If
I'm sitting there and I'm not seeing Christ and I don't see
my need of him, and forgive me, my heart is still that way too
often. I don't see my need of him. This is evidence of the
death that is. Who shall remove me from the
body of this death? Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? I would say to that person, I
would say to myself, it would be very wise to pray and ask
God to give you eyes to see, because the need is there. The
spiritual need is there. God's holiness is there. The
fact that I don't see it doesn't mean a thing. I would say be
very wise to pray, pray and ask God to give us eyes to see, ask
him to give us life. That verse that I quoted in John
six that says, no man can come unto me. Further on in that verse,
no man can come unto me except the father which hath sent me,
draw him, draw him. Well, I read that and I think
it'd be really good advice from a friend to say, well, then pray
to God that he draw you. Pray to God that he draw me.
Draw me. Seek ye the Lord, he said. Seek
ye the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Call upon him. Call upon him. Turn with me if you would to
Romans chapter 10. Every now and then, Every now
and then, I have the high school class. When I'm at home, I won't
turn to scriptures. In front of them, I have every
single one of these marked, because they beat me to the punch. Every
single time, those sword drills. So I always have everything marked
when I'm with them. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call
upon him while he is near. How? Romans chapter 10, starting
here in verse 11. For the scripture saith, whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. There's no difference
between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they
call on him in whom they have not believed? How shall they
believe in him of whom they have not heard? How do I believe? How will I believe? I can't produce
faith. How will I believe? I can't produce
faith. Faith is a gift of God, right? A gift from God. Well,
then I'd say ask Him for it. I was a grown adult. I was sitting back in the study
before service one time, and Cecil Thornberry prayed. And
I'm sure that I have heard this a million times before, but that
day I heard it and he prayed, Lord, would you increase our
faith? And he just prayed it just so human. He said, would
you increase our faith? Oh my goodness, that's a good
prayer. Would you increase our faith? Our text says, seek ye the Lord
while he may be found. Call upon him, call upon him
while he is near. When is God near? I'll just quote
a few. Three verses. When is God near? Psalm 34, 19 says, the Lord is
nigh, the Lord is near, the Lord is nigh unto them that are of
a broken heart. And say to such as be of a contrite
spirit. When your heart is broken, when
your heart is broken, the Lord is near. I had Gavin look up
a few verses When your heart is broken, the Lord is near.
Job 13 says, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. But he
won't slay us. Christ has been slain, which
is not to minimize that it sure feels that way. Isaiah was sawn in half, right? Peter was crucified upside down.
John the Baptist was beheaded. Those are real trials, right? I mean, those are real trials.
Our trials are real. No one's diminishing that. Job
says, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. But Psalm 23
says, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil. It's not death. Spiritual death
is impossible for those in Christ. Impossible. for a sovereign God
to also punish sinners where sin has already been punished.
That's impossible. It feels like, though he slay
me, yet will I trust him, but he'll not slay us. That's just
the shadow of death. That's not death. That's just
the shadow. There in Psalm 23 still says,
I walked through the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear
no evil, which is not to say that we don't fear. We do. We
fear. For thou art with me. Those trials are real. We cry. We cry. Turn over to Matthew
chapter 14. Matthew chapter 14, verse 30. This is Peter. When he saw the
wind boisterous, he was afraid. See, I will fear no evil. That is true. No evil will come
on a child of God in Christ. No evil. Not to say that we're
not afraid. When he saw the wind boisterous,
he was afraid. Beginning to sink, he cried. We cry. Right? We cry. It's just not genuine to say
that the trials aren't real, that everything is fine and joy,
joy, joy. Yes, there is joy in trial when
our eyes are on Christ, absolutely. But that doesn't for a minute
mean that we're not carrying the burden, right? Trials are
real. We cry, just as Peter cried.
He cried saying, Lord, save me. That's a good prayer too. Lord,
save me. if your flesh is like my flesh.
My flesh says, oh, I must have been doing something wrong. Must
have been doing something wrong for this trial to be happening. But as I was studying, I read
that verse 29 right before it. We'll start in 28. Peter answered
him and said, Lord, if it be thou bid me come thee onto the
water. Lord told him to come. He said, come. Peter was doing
exactly what Christ Jesus told him to do. But when he saw the
wind boisterous, he was afraid. His ways are higher than our
ways. I'm a whole lot better off when I stop trying to figure
out the Lord's will or what he's trying to teach me in this, or
just look to him and just see him. And then there is joy in
the midst of the storm. There is joy when I see him,
when I see his goodness, when I trust who he is. Was the Lord
less good when Isaiah was sawed in half? No, not a bit, not a
bit. Did it feel that way to Isaiah's
flesh? I guarantee it didn't feel good to his flesh. Does
it make any less true? Right? His ways are higher than
our ways. As high as the heaven is from
the earth, his ways are higher than our ways. So we stop looking
to, I'm not talking, I'm talking to me. Stop looking to evidences. What I hear Don Fortner said
one time, we don't judge his providence by what's going on,
we judge what's going on by his good providence, right? If it's
happening, then it's good, it's in his hand. Even though my flesh
tells me otherwise. When is God near? He's near unto
them that are of a broken heart. Saveth such as a contrite spirit.
Psalm 145 says, the Lord is nigh unto them that call upon Him,
to all that call upon Him in truth, to all that call upon
a holy and just and right God because of who He is. Jeremiah
23 says, am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a far
off? He's near. Not a far off, he's near unto
them in Christ. He's always near unto them that
call upon him. He's not a far off. Do you know
why we don't call? Because by nature we don't think
we need him. Which is further evidence, like
we talked about before, it's further evidence the scriptures
are correct. It's further evidence of our rebellious nature. It's
further evidence of death. Which is why we must call upon
him. We must call upon him. Verse seven in our text here,
back in Isaiah 55. Verse seven says, let the wicked
forsake his way. Let the unrighteous man his thoughts.
Let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him.
And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. And this is us. We are
the wicked and unrighteous. by birth, in our nature, let
me forsake my way. Let me forsake my thoughts and
turn to Him. Turn to Him. Reject our own way, reject our
own thoughts, because those are polluted, just polluted in sin.
Turn to the Lord. And Isaiah says, the Lord says
through Isaiah, that He will have mercy on us, that God will
abundantly pardon. And this word will isn't a function
of time. Later today, I will X, I will drive home, whatever.
I will, that's a function of time. This isn't a function of
time, this is a function of purpose. He wills, that might be a better
way to put it. Turn to the Lord because he wills
to have mercy upon them. Our God wills to abundantly pardon. In his goodness, he wills to
abundantly pardon sinners in Christ. Because of who he is,
right? According to his goodwill. Not a function of time. This
is a function of who he is. This is a function of his goodness.
He will have mercy. He wills to have mercy. He wills
to abundantly pardon. And no actions of ours are a
condition of this. that we have to fulfill X and
then we obligate God to react. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. This is our motivation. Isaiah
says, let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man
his thoughts. Why? Because then that triggers God
to abundantly pardon? No, no. Because God abundantly
pardons. Because God will have mercy on
whom he will have mercy. Because God is I am. Therefore,
that's our motivation, to come to him, forsake my wicked way,
forsake my unrighteous thoughts, and come to him, because he is
who he says he is. He wills to have mercy. Verse
eight says, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are
your ways my ways, saith the Lord. What are our ways? And this is
kind of in closing, what are our ways? Our way, left to ourselves,
our way is selfish. Always selfish. We don't understand
any sort of motivation that isn't I do and I get. I give, I get. Right? Our whole economy is based
on that. Everything is based on what I
do, then I get. Try your. walk through the store and just
smile at a stranger and see if they don't look back at you suspicious,
right? Don't you feel that way? If somebody
came up and tried to shove a $5 bill in my hand, what would you,
I'd think, what's your angle, right? What are you trying to
get from me? And that's because that's the way we're wired. We're
selfish. That's our way. What's his way? His way is selfless.
He gave so that his people get. John 3.16 says, look at all that
he gave and just wait to hear what he gets back. For God so
loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever
believed in him should not perish, but so that they could have everlasting
life. Right? He gave and his people
got. He's selfless. Selfless. We're
selfish. That's our way. His ways are
higher than our ways. He's selfless. Our way is subject
to our own sinful nature. We're bound by our own sinful
natures. Proverbs 14 says, there's a way
which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways
of death. That's our way. We're bound by our sinful nature.
His way is subject only to His own holy nature. It's bound,
if you would, by His own goodness. Not that God is bound, and you
know I don't mean that, but He's bound by His holy nature. We're
bound by our sinful nature. He's bound by His holy nature.
Psalm 145 says, the Lord is righteous in all His ways and holy in all
His works. We're sinful in all our ways,
sinful in all our works. He's holy in all His ways, holy
in all His works. And in Christ is birthed a new man that is
after this same nature. In Christ is birthed a new man
in his children. Sacrifice took the sin away so
that there is no barrier, and then he gives his children life,
spiritual life that is born after God, righteous in all ways and
holy in all his works. Our way is limited. Jeremiah
10 says, oh Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself.
It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. We're limited
in our way. God's way is unlimited. Ephesians
3 says, now unto him that is able to do, one of my favorite
verses, and this is the way I always read it. Now unto him that is
able to do all that we ask or think. And that would be something. Now, the God of this world is
right there. He's able to do all I think. But that's not what Scripture
says. Scripture says He's able to do above all that we ask or
think. But that's not what Scripture
says. So he's able to, I'm always so blessed by this, he's able
to do abundantly above all that we ask or think. And if you can
get there, the scripture clarifies and says he's able to do exceeding,
abundantly above all that I ask or think. He's unlimited. We're
limited, he's unlimited. Unto him that is able to do exceeding,
exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. Our ways
are evil. Genesis 6, God saw the wickedness
of man was great in the earth. Every imagination of the thoughts,
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Our way is evil. His way is holy. Deuteronomy says a God of truth
and without iniquity. Just and right is he. My way
is sinful. Ephesians 2 says that we were
by nature the children of wrath, even as others. His way is merciful. That very next verse in Ephesians,
it says, we were by nature, the children of wrath, even as others.
Very next verse says, but God, who is rich in mercy. Why? For his great love, wherewith
he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us, hath birthed us together with Christ. By grace, you're
saved. Our way is sinful, his way is
merciful, but God is rich in mercy. And in closing, finally, I found myself blessed by looking
at our text there, Isaiah 55, six through nine, and reading
the verses backwards, if you would. It says, for my thoughts
are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith
the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so
are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts higher than
your thoughts. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous
man his thoughts. Let him return unto the Lord.
He will have mercy upon him and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon. there because of that, because
he is who he says he is, because he is sovereign and merciful
and just and a friend to sinners, right? Because the barrier is
removed, because God is good, because of seven, eight, nine. Therefore, seek ye the Lord while
he may be found. Call upon him while he is near.
Amen. Let's close in prayer. Our Holy Heavenly Father, I pray
that you bless this time that we had together, that your name
be glorified and that we go back to our houses praising your name. I thank you for this time that
we've had together. Thank you for the time to worship
you together. We thank you that you have done
all for your children. You've cleansed and justified,
you've sanctified and you call. And you give faith and a heart
to respond. We thank you that it's all in
your hand. We thank you for your goodness.
We pray for those that were mentioned earlier, pray for Tom and Bridget
that you bring them home safely. wherever your word is being declared
this morning, we pray together that you bless that time. We
pray this thankfully in Christ's name.