Good morning. If you would turn with me to
Proverbs chapter one. Proverbs, the first chapter.
Our pastor is at the conference in Dingus, West Virginia. this
morning, so keep him and as well as that. The conference and the
message and people there in prayer. The Proverbs, the first chapter
will read the first seven verses. Gavin asked me a question the
other day and I answered him because I think I didn't know
the answer. And I said something to the effect
of, if I had the wisdom of God, right, because Solomon could
have anything he asked for, couldn't he? Solomon asked for wisdom. And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom. And all of the wisdom of all
of the earth, all of the wisdom, the wisest man ever to live,
this is what he had to say. The Proverbs of Solomon, the
son of David, king of Israel, to know wisdom and instruction,
to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of
wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity, to give subtlety
to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. A wise
man will hear and will increase learning. A man of understanding
shall attain unto wise counsels. To understand a proverb and the
interpretation, the words of the wise and their dark sayings. Here's what Solomon had to say,
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise
wisdom and instruction. We'll end our reading there.
If you grab your bulletin, Chris will lead us in our call to worship. God above. I have a strong and perfect plea. A great high priest whose name
is love. Whoever My sinful soul is calvary, For
not the justice that I deserve. With himself I cannot die My
soul, my fortune, with his love My life is hidden with grace Okay, you can be seated now,
and if you would grab your hymnal and turn to 223. Arise, my soul,
arise. 223. My soul arise, shake off thy
guilty fear. The bleeding sacrifice in my
behalf appear. My name is written on his head
My name is written on his head His precious blood to clean,
His blood atone for all His race, And sprinkles now the throne
of grace, And sprinkles now the throne of grace. Thy cleaning wounds He bears,
? From Calvary ? ? They pour effectual prayer ? ? They slowly
pray for me ? ? Forgive him, O forgive, they cry ? ? For let
that ransom sinner die ? ? For let that ransom sinner die ? He cannot turn away the presence
of His Son. His Spirit answers to the blood
and tells me I am born of God and tells me I am born of God. My God is reconciled, If our
vain voice I hear, He holds me for His child. I can no longer fear, with confidence
I now draw nigh, and father and the father cry, and father and
the father cry. Thank you, Chris, Kathy. If you
would, turn with me this morning to the book of Isaiah chapter
55. Isaiah chapter 55. Let's pray. Go to Lord in prayer
before we begin. Our Holy Heavenly Father, we
we come before you together in Christ's name, praying that your
name be glorified this morning as it has been in the in Sunday
school. We we pray that you be with us
as you promised. We thank you for for sending
your spirit to bless it as you have. We pray that that you leave
me not alone, that you leave us not alone as as we attempt
to worship together. Truly, it's all vain without
the spirit, without your blessing. We pray for your blessing this
morning. We pray that your name be lifted up and glorified, and
we pray together that we would see Christ. We're thankful for for Christ
and for your throne of mercy in him. We pray for those that
are undergoing trial. We're thankful that we know the
trial is in your hand. We pray for our pastor and the
congregation, the people at the Ingress Conference even now that
are listening, that you bless and that you bring him home safely
to us. Wherever your name is being declared this morning,
we pray together that you're there and that you're blessing
and that as you promised, your word doesn't go out and return
to you void, but rather accomplishes your will. Father, increase our
faith. We pray this thankfully in Christ's
name, and for his sake, amen. Isaiah chapter 55. We'll spend most of our time
today on verse six. But I want to read the entire
chapter first, and then we'll look, starting in verse six.
Ho, everyone 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, wherefore do you spend
money for that which is not bread? When you're reading through the
scriptures, I know David wrote the scriptures and so often he
starts this. It almost sounds like he's saying
self, but he's talking to himself, David. And he talks to himself,
self, you're my soul, he says a lot, so my soul, what? You
read verse two, I read it to myself. Wherefore do you spend
money for that which is not bread? For your labor, for that which
satisfieth not. Hearken diligently unto me, e.e.
that which is good. Let your soul delight itself
in fatness. Incline your ear, come unto me. Here in 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 ye upon him while he is
near. Let the wicked forsake his way, 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.
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 whereinto I sent it. For you shall go out
with joy, be led with peace. The mountains and the hills shall
break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field
shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the
fir tree, And instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle
tree and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting
sign that shall not be cut off. As I mentioned, we'll, we'll
focus the majority of the time on verse six. If you look at
verse six with me, verse six says, and, and we'll look specifically
at these phrases. Verse six says seek, right? Seek ye, right? You seek. Seek ye who? Seek ye the Lord. When? While he may be found. I don't
know exactly when that is, while he may be found. I know it's
today. I know for certain it's today
because the sun rose and we all woke up. And if the sun rises
and we all wake up, the Lord's calling people to repentance.
I know that. Seek ye the Lord today while he may be found.
Call ye upon him when, while he is near. So first, seek. Seek. Well, first to seek, we have
to know where. Seek. Seek ye the Lord. Where? And you know, before we even
start, we should never, we should never get past the fact. We should
never get over the fact that the Lord even sees fit to communicate
with us. I think frequently about the
fact, there's no mention anywhere in the scriptures of the fallen
angels. The Lord talks about the elect
angels, the angels that were elect. The Lord never talks anywhere
about angels, the fallen angels and a path to repentance. The
Lord didn't have to save us, right? We should never get over
the fact that the Lord even just sees fit to communicate with.
that God Almighty would make, as Stan talked this morning,
would make His name known to us, that He would make Himself
known to us, to us who aren't even capable of comprehending,
to us who have no right in and of ourselves to know Him, that
He would see fit to communicate with us. It's a privilege, isn't
it? When you let yourself be known
to somebody else, when somebody else lets themselves be known
to you, isn't that a privilege? That someone would take the time
to share their honest thoughts and that you could really, really
get to know somebody who they actually are at their core. That's a privilege, right? That's
a gift that someone gives. If they really reveal themselves
to you, who they actually are. And isn't it special when you
love someone enough to really reveal who you really are? That's not something you share
with just anyone. Your true self, right? Who you
are at your core. That's only something you share
with someone you love, right? Who you are at your core. That
God would see fit to share with us who he is, if you will, at
his core. Who he is at his core. Unlike
us, right? You might see one thing on the surface and something
totally different might be going on inside, right? That's not
true of our Lord. Who he is on the surface, who
he reveals himself to be, is exactly who he is all the way
through. That's exactly who he is at his core. That he would
see fit to reveal himself to us, that's only something you
do with people that you love. Reveals who he is, that he does
in love, having predestinated us, right? In love, he reveals
himself to sinners. How in the world can his greatness
be communicated to us? We'll turn, time permitting,
to quite a few scriptures this morning, but these first I'll
just mention. Exodus 15, who is like unto thee,
O Lord? How will he communicate himself
to us? To whom shall we compare him? Who is like unto thee, O
Lord? Isaiah 40 says, to whom then
will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare
unto him? He's not like. anything that we know in our
sinful worlds. How will he reveal himself to
us? Our text here in verse 6 says,
seek ye the Lord. Where? Well, in the wilderness,
God revealed himself to Israel in different places. And just
as Dan mentioned this morning, he revealed himself with different
names, right? He also reveals himself in different
places. He reveals different aspects
of his character at different times. When God displays one
aspect of his character, it doesn't diminish another aspect. He just
happens to be revealing one aspect at a time. But it never diminishes
another aspect. When God shows judgment, it never
diminishes his love. It's never at the expense of
his love. When he shows mercy, it's never at the expense of
his justice. Seek ye the Lord, our text says. Where? Well, first let's turn
to Exodus 19. Exodus 19. The first place the
Lord revealed himself to Israel was at Mount Sinai. Here in Exodus
19. Starting in verse 11, the Lord says to Moses, be ready
against the third day. For the third day, the Lord will
come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai. Thou shalt set bounds under the
people round about saying, take heed to yourselves that you go
not up into the mount or touch the border of it. 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 be beast or man, it shall not live. When the trumpet soundeth
long, they shall come up to the mount. Now look down to verse
16. It came to pass on the third
day in the morning that there were thunders and lightnings
and a thick cloud upon the mount and the voice of the trumpet
exceeding loud and all the people that was in the camp trembled.
They trembled. And Moses brought forth the people
out of the camp to meet with God. They stood at the nether
part of the mount. Now, turn over to chapter 20. Look here in verse 18 in Exodus
chapter 20. And all the people saw the thunderings
and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the mountain
smoking. And when the people saw it, they removed and stood
afar off. And they said to Moses, speak
thou with us and we will hear. But let not God speak with us
lest we die. They saw God's sovereignty. at Mount Sinai, God's sovereignty.
And as Dan mentioned this morning, his name, I Am, revealing his
sovereignty. We'd be good to never get too
far from that. His sovereignty. They saw in
Mount Sinai, when they saw God's perfect attribute of sovereignty,
what did they say? They stood afar off. They said,
Moses, you speak to us. If God speaks to me, I'll surely
die. How can a sinner come to a to a sovereign God. Yet that's
what Isaiah says, right? Isaiah says, seek ye the Lord.
Where? Seek ye first the same place Israel did. See the God
of the Bible that is holy and just and perfect and all powerful. And just as Mount Sinai cannot
be touched. He was absolutely right to destroy
sinners and destroy sin out of his presence. Seek ye God. See the holy and powerful God
who is terrifying to sinners. Terrifying to sinners. Again, the Israelites said in
verse 17, they said, Moses, you speak. Let not God speak with
us. I don't want to deal with God
directly. I don't want to deal with a sovereign, holy, just God directly. Lest we die. Seek this God who
is too holy to be approached by sinful man. For God is holy
and God is just. And He will punish sin, and He's
right to. He will punish sin. He will remove sin. That attribute
of who He is does not change. Seek ye the sovereign God of
Mount Sinai. Our text says, seek ye the Lord.
Where? Seek ye the Lord, the sovereign
Lord of Mount Sinai, the I Am. Seek ye the Lord where? Turn
over to Exodus chapter 17. Seek ye the Lord where? At the Ark of the Covenant, on
the mercy seat. Seek ye the Lord there. Exodus... Apologize. Verses 17 to 22, I may have the
wrong text but I have it written down here, the wrong reference.
Verses 17 to 22, listen as I read. The Lord says to Moses, thou
shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall
be the length thereof, 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 and 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 shall stretch forth their wings on
high, covering the mercy seat with their wings. And their faces
shall look one to another. Toward the mercy seat shall the
faces of the cherubims be. Thou shalt put the mercy seat
above upon the ark. And in the ark thou shalt put
the testimony which I shall give thee. And there, God says, there
I will meet with thee. and I will commune with thee
from above the mercy seat." Jews call that the Shekinah glory
of God, right? From above the mercy seat, there
I will meet with thee and I will commune with thee. From between
the two cherubims that are upon the ark of the testimony of all
the things which I will give thee in commandments unto the
children of Israel, the same God whose holiness cannot be
approached by sinful man, the same God of Mount Sinai, right,
who is all-powerful and all-holy and all-just and all-sovereign,
who cannot be approached by sinful man, that same God says, there
I will meet with you and commune with you from the mercy seat. Right? Seek ye the God where? Seek ye the Lord there at the
mercy seat. God gave Moses instructions on how to build the mercy seat
before the Israelites ever broke the law. before the children
of Israel broke the law. God had given the law. God hadn't
written with his fingers on the tablets yet. Before that, before
the law was broken, God gave Moses instructions on how to
build the mercy seat. The law wasn't plan one, the
mercy seat was fallback plan two. The law was never plan one
and Christ was plan two. It was never the case. Mercy,
mercy has always been God expressing himself in Christ. God says,
meet me at the mercy seat. There. There. That's where I'll
commune with you. Want to go to the law of Mount
Sinai? Go right ahead. You can't approach unto the law
of Mount Sinai. You can't approach unto the sovereign God. Any man
or beast that touches it shall surely die. In Isaiah, Isaiah says, seek
ye the Lord. The Lord tells us right here
where to find him. Find him at the mercy seat, which
is a picture of Christ. The mercy seat where the blood
was sprinkled, where justice was satisfied. The mercy seat
where atonement was made. God's mercy and God's justice
both meet there. The mercy seat, which is a picture
of Christ. Here, that, that is where God meets his people. Seek
ye the Lord, Isaiah says. Seek ye the Lord there at the
mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. Isaiah says, seek ye the Lord.
Now turn over to Exodus chapter 33. Seek ye the Lord. Where? See the Lord of Mount Sinai.
Definitely. He is a God of absolute sovereignty.
See the God of the mercy seat. Absolutely. He is a God of absolute
mercy. One certainly doesn't diminish
the other. He is sovereignly merciful, and he is also mercifully
sovereign. One never diminishes the other.
See the Lord there. Where else do we see the Lord?
Here in Exodus 33, see him here in the cloudy pillar. Exodus
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. This same sovereign God, the
sovereign God of Mount Sinai, right? The merciful God of the
Ark of the Covenant, this God, communes with man as a friend. How can this be? Moses represents
the law. At the mercy seat, when the blood
was applied, and the law was satisfied at the mercy seat,
and Moses represents the law, so God and the law, God and the
law are not at odds, not in Christ. not because justice was satisfied. Mercy is shown. God and the law
commune as friends. God and the law are not as odds.
Since God and the law are not at odds, they're not in disagreement,
at the mercy seat, the barrier of the law was completely removed
so that God, man, and the law are not at odds. They're not
against each other. They're not at odds. And just
as God communed with Moses as a friend, God, through his word,
communes with his people as a friend. Seek ye the Lord, Isaiah says.
Seek ye the Lord in love, in love. In sovereignty, in mercy,
and in love, in the cloudy pillar. Seek ye the Lord. In Christ Jesus,
Lord. Turn over, if you would, with
me to Hebrews chapter nine. Hebrews chapter 9. Seek ye the
Lord. Where? At Mount Sinai, at the
mercy seat, in love, in the cloudy pillar, as a friend. Seek ye the Lord in Christ Jesus
the Lord. Here, Hebrews chapter 9. Before we get there, John
1 says, I think Dan, I think you quoted this this morning,
the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. and dwelt among us. That's the Word, capital W, the
Word that was with God. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, that His glory, that's the same
Shekinah glory that was present at Mount Sinai, that was present
at the mercy seat, that was present in the cloudy pillar. We beheld
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. His glory, same glory, the same
glory that was at Mount Sinai, at the mercy seat, and in love
and community at the cloudy pillar. All of God's attributes are met
together here in Christ Jesus, in Christ. And all are 100% all
the time, as we discussed earlier, that he is sovereignly merciful. He is, God is sovereignly loving. He is also lovingly sovereign,
mercifully sovereign. One attribute never diminishes
another. He's all. Scripture says that. He's all
and in all. We find these attributes together in Christ Jesus, Christ
Jesus who is God. The same Christ Jesus who sovereignly
spoke all things into existence, who he himself is the sacrifice. He is the sacrifice by which
justice was served and atonement was made for sinners. the same
Christ Jesus who he himself is the mercy seat. He is the mercy
seat at which sinners find mercy. He is the cloudy pillar through
which man, sinful man, communes with God in Christ. Isaiah says,
seek ye the Lord, seek ye the Lord in Christ, in Christ. All these attributes of God are
met and embodied in Christ Jesus, such that Christ told Philip,
what he said, He said, he that hath seen me hath seen the Father. Seek ye the Lord in Christ, in
Christ. Only in Christ do sinners find
God's sovereign justice, mercy, and love. All together, met in
Christ. Matthew 18 says, for where two
or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the
midst of him. Seek ye the Lord. I remember coming to this. It
was revealed to me, and I made a determination. Lord revealed
to me, I don't know who the Lord is. I made a determination to
myself. I don't know where he is. I don't know who he is, but
I know where he's preached. And buddy, I won't be there.
That I can do. I can do that. I will be there,
and I'm never going to leave. I can do that. I thought that
was real novel. I've heard a dozen people since
then say that they went through a similar determination That
determination doesn't save us. Certainly not. Lord gives that
determination and if he begins a good work, he won't leave it
unfinished, right? Where two or three are gathered in my name,
there I am in the midst of him. Seek ye the Lord. Where? Yeah.
Seek him at Mount Sinai. Seek him in the mercy seat. Seek
him in the cloudy pillar. Seek him and find him in Christ.
Seek him wherever two or three are gathered, there he is in
the midst of them. That's the Lord's promise, right? Seek him
where two or three are gathered in his name. Seek ye the Lord,
Isaiah says. He also says, seek ye the Lord,
right? You seek the Lord. Who's Isaiah
talking to? Who is told to seek the Lord? You are. I am, individually,
personally. In Matthew, Mark, Luke, and also
in the book of Revelation, God says, he that hath ears to hear,
let him hear. Seek ye the Lord, you personally. You put your name there if you
want to, just as I mentioned when we were reading Isaiah earlier.
You put your name there. I put my name there. Jonathan,
seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he
is near. Put your name there. What a blessing that is, because
in Christ there is no barrier that prevents a sinner from coming
to God. Over and over and over again, sinners are called, commanded,
instructed, told, sinner here, if you have ears to hear, hear.
Come, seek ye the Lord, call upon him while he's near. The
Lord has never turned away a sinner in mercy, never. Second Corinthians 1.20 states,
for all the promises of God in him that is in Christ are yea
and amen. They're yes, right? All the promises
of God in Christ are answered. They're yes. Sinner, come. Come
to Christ. They're found true in Christ.
There's no barrier. So there's only two possible responses when
I hear, Jonathan, seek ye the Lord. Either one, the Lord has
revealed my sin to my heart. give me a heart, give me eyes
to see, give me ears to hear, my need of him. And to him, the
Lord says, seek and he shall be found. To these, seek and
he shall be found. There is no barrier. There's
no barrier between you and God. Come to the throne of Christ.
Or, the other possible response is, I don't see my need to him
and I'm indifferent to it. I'm unmoved. And all that is,
I remember Clay Curtis saying something to that effect, All
that is, is proof that the scriptures are correct. You're dead. Of
course you're not moved. You're dead. Right? You will
not come to me that you might have life. If I'm sitting there
and I'm unmoved, well, that just proves that the scriptures are
true. They declare us to be spiritually dead. Christ says no man can
come unto me. This is evidence of death. My
niece is a nurse. To be indifferent is evidence
of death. You would see evidence at the
hospital, I would imagine. And if you saw someone not breathing,
who had no pulse, the machines aren't beeping, these are all
evidence that you better do something, right? Evidence of death. My cold heart, my indifferent
heart, my uncaring, absolute lack of need of Christ. It's
just proof that the scriptures are true. Evidence of death. To these I would say, if I'm
sitting there and I have no need of Christ, to these I would say,
ask Him. Pray it. Isaiah says, seek ye
the Lord. That's to everyone. If I'm indifferent
and I'm cold, seek ye the Lord. Ask Him. Ask Him to give you
an interest. Ask Him to give you a need. Ask
Him to give you a heart. Ask Him to draw you. Ask Him.
Ask him for mercy. Ask him to give you life. The
end of the verse there that I just quoted, no man can come unto
me, right? No man can come unto me. The
remainder of that verse is, except the father which has sent me,
draw him. Ask him to draw you. Right? And don't stop asking. This is
to me. Right now. Stand here and ask.
Oh, draw me again. Would you draw me? Draw me. Ask
him. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. Isaiah says, call upon him while
he is near. Call upon him. Turn over, if
you would, with me to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10, beginning
in verse 11. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. Call upon him while he is near.
Romans 10 states, for the scripture saith, whosoever believeth on
him shall not be ashamed. There's no difference between
the Jew and the Greek. 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. It's pretty clear, isn't
it? Call upon the name of the Lord.
Ask him, ask him. Call upon the name of the Lord.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
How then shall they call on him in whom they've not believed?
How shall they believe in him of whom they've not heard? How
shall I call who I don't believe? How shall I call him? How do
I believe? How do I, how do I believe? We
can't produce faith. Faith is a gift. Ask him for
it. Ask him. I remember hearing that in one
of the meetings before church. A man prayed and said, and he
prayed, increase our faith. We have heard people pray that
for decades. And that day, the Lord gave me
ears to hear, increase our faith. Want more faith? Ask Him. Ask
Him for it. You want faith? Ask Him. Increase our faith. Call upon
Him while He is near in faith. Seek ye the Lord, Isaiah says,
while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. When is God near? I'm going to
quote a few scriptures. When is God near? Psalm 34 19
says the Lord is nigh. He's near. The Lord is near unto
them that are of a broken heart. Saveth such as be of a contrite
spirit. Call upon him while he is near.
When your heart is broken, the Lord is near. Isaiah says, call
upon him, call upon him. I had, My assistant, Gavin, look up
a few scriptures for me on the way here that I was thinking
about. Job 13, 15. Job says, though
he slay me, yet will I trust in him. You call upon him when
he is near. Though he slay me, yet will I
trust in him. But God won't slay us. Christ
has already been slain. God won't slay us. It looks like
it. It may look like it. That looked
like it to Job, didn't it? Though he slay me, yet will I
trust him. Psalm 23 says, yea, though I
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil. God won't slay us. Christ has
been slain. It's the shadow of death is what
we see. It's a shadow. Which is not to say that it's
not real. David says, I'll fear no evil. He doesn't say he won't
fear. We fear. We hurt. It's real. Turn with me, if you would, to
Matthew chapter 14. It's the shadow of death, but
God will never slay his children, as Job says, though he slay me,
yet will I trust him. It looks that way. But he won't
slay his children. Christ has already been slain.
Which is not to say, for a minute, that trials aren't real. Or that
we should walk around with a false smile on our face. That's not
genuine. That's not real. Trials are real, Derek. We cry. Even though we fear no evil.
Even though we know we're walking through the shadow of death.
We cry. What does it say here in Matthew
chapter 14 verse 30? Lord, we'll look in verse 29.
He said, come. When Peter was come down out
of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. When he
saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid. Beginning to sink, he
cried, saying, Lord, save me. Peter cried. We cry. It's just
not genuine to say that, as I too often tend to say, this
is hard, but I know the Lord's with us. That's not accurate.
This is hard and I know the Lord's with us. Right? One's not contradicting
the other. It's true. This is heartbreaking. This is physically trying. People
that live with chronic pain, it's enough to drive a person
nuts. when your heart is broken, or
your body is broken, and your sleep is broken, and we're hanging
on by a thread. To call that not real is just
not genuine. But Isaiah says, call upon the
Lord while he is near. And Psalm says, he's near unto
them that are of a broken heart, or of a contrite spirit. And
Peter cried. Peter cried, Lord help me. We cry unto him. That's what
Isaiah is saying. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. Call upon him. Call upon him while he is near. Psalm 145 says, the Lord is nigh
unto all them that call upon him. To all that call upon him
in truth. We have not because we ask not.
That's the truth. Lord is nigh unto all them that
call upon him. To all that call upon him in truth. Jeremiah 23
says, am I a God at hand? Yeah, he's at hand and not a
far off. Am I a God who's near and not a far off? Yeah. Lord
says he's always nigh unto them that call upon him, and he's
never a far off. You know why we don't call? It's
because by nature we don't think we need him. Some of the worst trouble I've
ever gotten myself into is when I thought to myself, I got this.
That's dangerous. I remember mom telling me, even as a kid, what an impact
this can have. Mom would pray while she mowed
the lawn. That's what we should do, right? What a great example on Mother's
Day, mom. Thank you. But we, in our nature, my flesh
rises up and says to myself, I got this. Call upon him. Further evidence again of our
rebellion, further evidence of why we must call upon Him. Why
must we call upon Him? Now back to our text here in
Isaiah 55. Why must we call upon Him? Look
in verse 7. Look in verse 7 here. Let the wicked forsake his way,
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. Who's the wicked
and unrighteous man? That's us by nature, by birth.
We're the wicked. We're the unrighteous man. Isaiah
says for us to reject our own ways and our own thoughts, reject
those, and turn to the Lord, reject our ways, reject our thoughts,
reject my reasoning. They're polluted with sin, right? They're fruit from a poisonous
tree. Reject my thoughts, reject my
figuring, my way. Through trial, we turn to the
Lord, but most importantly in salvation. Man's way to salvation
is always some form of works. It's always some form of merit
before God outside of Christ, always. And that never stops. Does your old band do what mine
does and keep trying to tell you that? Mine does. Reject that
and turn to the Lord in trial, but most importantly, in salvation.
Let the wicked forsake his way, the unrighteous man, his thoughts.
We're the wicked ones. We're polluted with sin. Turn
to the Lord. Scripture says, for he will have
mercy upon him. Our God will abundantly pardon. Abundantly pardon. And this will,
this isn't a function of time. This afternoon, I will have lunch.
That's a function of time. This will isn't a function of
time. It's not even a function of being a condition, such as,
if I turn these into a condition of, if I turn, then my God will
have mercy because I turned. That's a condition. This will,
the God will have mercy, it's better read as the Lord wills
to have mercy. He wills to. Not a function of
time, not something he'll do in the future. He wills to. Lord
said, let there be light, and there was light. The Lord wills
to show mercy, and he will. He will have mercy. The Lord
wills to abundantly pardon. Our actions aren't a condition
of that that we have to fulfill that then makes God react. Right? I turn to the Lord and then the
Lord will have mercy. No, not at all. Not at all. The Lord
wills to have mercy. What that is, it's our motivation.
Since the Lord wills to have mercy, since the Lord will, God
wills to abundantly pardon, therefore I will reject my ways and turn
to him. Right? Because according to and stemming
from his own inherent goodness, it stems from him, according
to his own inherent goodness, because he is who he is. He wills
to show mercy and abundantly pardon. Therefore, Isaiah calls
upon the sinner, forsake your way, forsake your thoughts, turn
to the Lord, because he wills to show mercy. He wills to abundantly
pardon. Verse eight here in Isaiah says, for my thoughts are not
your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
What are our ways? My thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." What are our
ways? Our way is selfish. It's always selfish. By nature,
we only do things for what we get in return. That's what we
do by nature. We give so that we get. His way,
His way is selfless. He gave so that we get. What
does John 3.16 say? For God so loved the world that
He gave. Because He loved, from His own
inherent goodness, from His own inherent love, He gave His only
begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but
so that they could have everlasting life. Our way is selfish. I give
so I get. His way is selfless. He gave
so His people get. Selfless. His ways are higher
than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Our
ways are are subject to a sinful nature. Listen here to Proverbs
14. There's a way which seemeth right
unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. That's
our way. The Lord says His way is higher
than our way. Our ways are subject to a sinful
nature. His way is subject, if you will, subject to His holy
nature, subject to His goodness, Psalm 145 says of the Lord's
way, the Lord is righteous in all his ways and holy in all
his works. Our ways are subject to a sinful
nature so that free will cannot exist. Our will is tied to our
sinful nature and we'll choose sin and drown itself in the pollution
of sin every time because our will is tied to our sinful nature.
His will is good. and righteous and holy and merciful. And all of his actions, all of
his dealings with the just and the unjust are all from that,
right? From his goodness and from his
justice and from his righteousness. Again, Psalm says, the Lord is
righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works. His ways
are higher than our ways. Just a couple more. Our ways
are 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 can't direct our own steps.
Our way is limited. His way, his way is higher than
our way. His way is unlimited. Ephesians 3 says, now unto him
that is able to do, I love that verse. If that verse just said,
and I've said this before, unto him that is able to do all that
we ask or think, that would be something. For him to even be able to do
everything I could even imagine, that would really be something.
His ways are way above everything I could think. Ephesians says
he's able to do above all that we ask or think. Abundantly above
all that we ask or think. And wherever that is, the scripture
says he's able to do exceeding, abundantly above all that we
ask or think. His way is much higher than my
way. My way tells me he's going to
cast me off. His way says he'll never cast off his children because
justice has been satisfied in Christ. My way is evil. Genesis 6-5, God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth and every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. That's my way. His way is much
higher than our way. His way is holy. Deuteronomy
says a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. Just and right to damn sinners,
just and right in Christ to show mercy to sinners. It's just and
right for him to do so because his way is higher than our way.
My way, finally, my way is sinful. Ephesians 2 states that we were
by nature the children of wrath, even as others. God's way is
merciful. The very next verse in Ephesians
says, we were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. The
very next verse shows how much higher God's way is than our
way. The very next verse says, but God, who is rich in mercy
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us, hath given us life together
with Christ. By grace are you saved. His way is so much higher
than our way. His thoughts so much higher than
our thoughts. I was blessed in closing, if you would, again,
back in Isaiah 55. I took those verses six through
nine, and it blessed me to kind of read those backwards. And
I hope, I pray that it does you all too. Start in verse eight,
we'll read them a little bit backwards. The Lord 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 are higher
than your thoughts. Therefore, let the wicked forsake
his way, the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return
unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him. To our God, for
he will abundantly pardon. Therefore, seek ye the Lord. Right? Seek ye the Lord because
he's worthy. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. Call upon him. Call upon him. Call upon him
for salvation? Yes. Call upon him for forgiveness?
Yes. Call upon him because he's worthy to be called upon, because
he's good. All these things will be added
to you, right? In him ye find salvation and forgiveness and
redemption and justification, sanctification. You find a oneness
with God. You find communion with God.
You find all that where God is, at the mercy seat, in the pillar,
at Mount Sinai, all in Christ. You find that all in Christ.
We come to him, we call to him because he is good, because he
is worthy to be called upon, he is worthy to be worshiped,
and in him we find all of his attributes and all of his gifts,
right? Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him
while he is near. Okay, I hope that's been a blessing.
Chris? All right, in closing, if you
would, take your hymnal and turn it to page 309, and we'll be
standing as we close. Beneath the cross of Jesus, 309.
? Beneath the cross of Jesus ? My fame would take my stand A mighty rock within a weary
land A home within the wilderness The rest upon the way From the
burning of the noonday heat And the burden of the day Upon the
cross of Jesus, mine eyes at times can see, the very dying
form of one who suffered there for me. And from my stricken
heart with tears to wonders I come, The wonders of His glorious love,
and mine own worthless self, I ask no other sunshine than
the sunshine of His face. Come, kid, to let the world go
by. You know no gain nor loss. My sinful self, my only shame. my glory all the crying.