"Come! Buy! Eat! Enjoy!" (Afternoon)
Download MP3Well, afternoon. If I haven't met you before, my name is Cole Ragsdale and I serve as the College Ministry Director here at Redeemer. I'm grateful that you have chosen to be with us tonight. If it's first time to Redeemer, we just wanna say an a special welcome to you. We're honored that you would spend an hour on your Sunday to be with us.
Cole Ragsdale:I say this to our college students every Tuesday and I think it's true here as well is that the ultimate aim of this next hour is not to entertain you. The aim of this next hour is that we would have a meaningful moment with our Jesus and we pray that that would be the case. So during my eighth grade year, my mom and I actually took a mission trip to Jamaica. Now, this was a marked moment in my life. I got to to experience a part of the world I had never seen before And during our cultural day in which we were kind of experiencing what it would be like to live in Jamaica.
Cole Ragsdale:We made our way to this world famous Dunne's Falls there in in Ocho, Rio, Jamaica and while we're there, there's actually this huge marketplace that was off to the side that was designed to to grab the attention of everyone to buy as much stuff as you could before you made your way back to The States. Now, my mom and I are there with approximately 35 other middle schoolers and high schoolers from Akworth, Georgia and might I say they were very excited when we arrived. That the moment we stepped into this marketplace and there were vendors side by side. They began to shout in every direction. Buy this.
Cole Ragsdale:Take this. You need this. Great deal here. Come and find. Come and get.
Cole Ragsdale:And and honestly, it was incredibly threatening and scary as a seventh grader and we bought so much junk that day. Even one of my friends, Drew, he walked into one of these little tents and they had carved his name on it but then on the back you could see where they had carved someone else's name and scratched it out when they didn't buy it. But we had bought all of this stuff that we were overwhelmed with these pleas to take and to taste and to purchase. Now why do I start there this afternoon? Is that that marketplace feel is not just contained to the Dunn's Falls and Ocho Rio Jamaica but it is the trend of our culture.
Cole Ragsdale:That we live in an age of consumption. That we live in an age in which we walk through the marketplace of our world in which there are constantly businesses and people and organizations and algorithms that are crying out for our attention. To buy this. Take this. You need this.
Cole Ragsdale:All with this promise. Even if they don't state it explicitly that if you will take of this you will live. I mean, I mean, if we're being honest here, like that moment that that Amazon package arrives within forty eight hours of purchase and you open that new thing, man, that's a, like, let's be honest, that's a pretty good feeling. Or the moment you get that new car, there's something about a new thing that even for just a moment, it makes us feel new. But then I think we've all experienced man that brand new iPhone feels really new until it's not.
Cole Ragsdale:That brand new car feels really great until it's obsolete. That it leaves us empty. And where we find ourselves in Isaiah chapter 55 today. We're going to hear our God crying out to come to him. Yes to eat and to buy but not something that will leave us empty and unsatisfied.
Cole Ragsdale:But he is offering an invitation to a luxurious banquet that will satisfy our souls now and forever. So if you've got your bible or if you have your worship guide we're gonna be in Isaiah chapter 55 tonight verses one through 13 which is the entirety of chapter 55. And as we make our way through God's word. As we make our way through this passage of scripture. Here are kind of the three movements or three hooks that I hope that you'll see as we make our way through it.
Cole Ragsdale:It's the first five verses we're going to see that God offers a banquet invitation. Then those five verses we're gonna see this invitation that's extended to us and to the people of Israel to his great banquet. But then in verses six through nine we'll see we haven't just been invited to the banquet but he's gonna tell us how we actually enter. It's the banquet entrance. And then the chapter 55 of Isaiah closes with the banquet's joy.
Cole Ragsdale:A banquet invitation, a banquet entrance, and a banquet joy. But before we go any further, let's pray together and ask god's word to speak or god to speak through his word to us. Let's pray. Father, I thank you, for this moment. For this sacred moment in which your people are gathered around your word.
Cole Ragsdale:And so God, we pray, that spirit of God, you would speak through the word of God to the people of God so that we would become like the son of God, for the glory of God. And if you'd be willing, would you pray for those around you? Would you pray that they would hear from God this afternoon? And if you would, would you pray them that you would hear from God today through his word? And if you would be willing, would you pray for me?
Cole Ragsdale:That I would be helpful to you today. Well Father we pray all of these things for your glory sake through the Son and by the Holy Spirit. Amen. So this year as a church we've been journeying through the book of Isaiah. These past three weeks have been pretty critical to the overall narrative of the book.
Cole Ragsdale:In in Isaiah chapter 53 it's kind of the the linchpin, the climax in which we learn of the suffering servant in which the sacrifice was made by Jesus to purchase us this new life. So you've got this sacrifice in chapter 53 and then and then chapter 54 we see that this sacrifice has purchased us this beautiful covenant love in which we are secure in. That God is gathering his people that blessing is being poured out. We see this sacrifice, this security, and then here in chapter 55, the invitation is extended for us to be satisfied by it. To taste and see of the Lord and of his goodness.
Cole Ragsdale:So let's look together at this satisfaction in Isaiah chapter 55. I'll read all three thirteen verses. Redeemer, god's word says this to you this afternoon. Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters and he who has no money, come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Cole Ragsdale:Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligent diligently to me and eat what is good and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear and come to me. Hear that your soul may live and I will make with you an everlasting covenant. My steadfast, sure love for David.
Cole Ragsdale:Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you. Because of the lord your god and because in the holy one of Israel, for he has glorified you. Seek the lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near.
Cole Ragsdale:Let the wicked forsake his way and the righteous unrighteous man for his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there, but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout.
Cole Ragsdale:Giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace. The mountains and hills before you shall break forth into singing and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up cypress.
Cole Ragsdale:Instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle and it shall make a name for the Lord an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. This is the word of the Lord. So let's look together at those first five verses in which we're gonna see God invite Israel and invite us to this banquet. This banquet invitation. Come everyone who thirsts come to the waters and he who has no money come buy and eat.
Cole Ragsdale:Come buy wine and milk. That four times in this first verse we see the word come. It's the Hebrew word halach. It's this language of invitation. Hope you notice these repeated imperatives.
Cole Ragsdale:This this drive towards come, come, come. And then notice here that it's not only is it the same word repeated but this passage is increasing in its wonder. Let let's look at this together. Notice this. It starts off with come everyone who thirsts.
Cole Ragsdale:And then it goes to hey come everyone who come to the waters and it's even for those who don't have any money. And in fact, you can come and you can buy and you can eat and then only that, you can come and you can buy not only water, not only not only some food but you can buy wine and milk and it's going to be without money and without price. That it that it starts simple and it gets more and more dramatic. It gets more and more wonderful. That it wouldn't be too far for the first audience of this passage to be thinking about a middle eastern city with a market vendor in which there would be men who would carry around jugs of water and who would cry out come and drink.
Cole Ragsdale:Come and drink. And then you would go and you would purchase that water. Maybe a modern day context where you think about this. I want you to imagine you're at a Birmingham Barons game and you've got your beer vendor. And he's walking up and down the aisle saying, Beer here.
Cole Ragsdale:Beer here. And then not only that is he then he goes on to say, Hey beer here for free. Free beer here. Free beer here. And then he walks up again and he goes, hey free beer and free food.
Cole Ragsdale:Free beer. Food. And then it would go on to say, not only that. Hey upgraded seats. Hell and steak.
Cole Ragsdale:Upgraded seats hell and steak. All for free. But all of a sudden there's this intensity of wonder. Of oh my goodness I'm getting offered. I'm thirsty.
Cole Ragsdale:I'm getting offered drink. I'm thirsty. I'm getting offered food and drink. Oh my goodness. I'm thirsty.
Cole Ragsdale:I'm getting offered food and drink and the riches that I would never be able to afford. That the opening lines of Isaiah chapter 55 are this invitation to a banquet for us to come and feast because someone else has paid the bill. And who has paid the bill but the suffering servant from Isaiah 53. Who has paid the bill on our behalf but Jesus the Messiah. That Mark chapter 10 verse 45, Jesus says these words.
Cole Ragsdale:For even the son of man did not come to be served but to serve. And then this last line here is the important part. And to give his life as a ransom for many. A ransom being a payment that Jesus has paid the price. That Jesus has paid the debt.
Cole Ragsdale:He's covered the bill. And God is crying out to his people. God is crying out to us this afternoon, come to me. And then in verse two Isaiah begins to press us of why do you labor and toil for that which does not satisfy? Why would you spend your hard earned money?
Cole Ragsdale:Like why would you write that check for bread for that which is not bread and labor for that which does not satisfy? Why would you you give away your hard earned money for something that will be a temporary satisfaction but won't be an internal one? And and just in the same way that I started this is that our world is a marketplace and we are bad shoppers. That we are offered all kinds of things all of the time and we give away our attention. We give away our affections on things that will never satisfy.
Cole Ragsdale:Because God is offering us what does it say in verse two? Eat what is good and delight yourselves in rich food. Now obviously this is symbolic of God himself that Jesus would even say I am the bread of life. That Jesus invites us to say if anyone is thirsty may they come to me. That that what is the good food?
Cole Ragsdale:What is the the rich food? That it is Jesus Christ himself. And that note here that this grace that was purchased for us by Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, it is not an idea to think about but it is something to experience. I I want you to think about you're going on an anniversary dinner, you're celebrating your birthday. Someone's given you a big old gift card to I've already mentioned it to go to Helen, to go to automatic, to make your way to current or little Betty if that's your flare.
Cole Ragsdale:And I want you to imagine that you go and you sit down at that restaurant and you pour over the menu. And then you get up and leave. That you've analyzed the options. You've seen what has been there before you. It's even already been purchased but you never taste.
Cole Ragsdale:You never experience. And church family in the same way are the grace that was purchased for us on Calvary. The the blessing of God is not something to be analyzed. It's something to be tasted. It's not an idea to be considered.
Cole Ragsdale:It's a truth to be lived.
Jeffrey Heine:And so would you would
Cole Ragsdale:you hear the invitation this afternoon from Isaiah chapter 55? For those of you that are thirsty, would you come to the one who's already paid the bill and eat and be satisfied at his great banquet? Now now what actual difference does it make in your life that you've been invited to this banquet? A few things. I think it makes an actual difference in your life when you feel empty after scrolling on your phone for an hour.
Cole Ragsdale:And God would say to you, come to me and find real joy. That that that after you've watched pornography again thinking that it would satisfy, hear God say to you, come everyone who thirsts without money and without price and be experience true intimacy. I think it this matters in real life that that when you burn yourself out trying to prove that you are enough through your grades or your career or your finances or or let alone your ministry. And God would say to you come to me the price has already been paid. Why does this actually matter in your life?
Cole Ragsdale:So whenever you feel like an outsider and you don't belong whether or in a friend group, in a church, or in your own family. You can hear God say to you, you have a seat at my table. That you are invited. I think this also matters in our real life is that this passage shatters our excuses. That the gospel message is this, that God created it all.
Cole Ragsdale:That we lost it all. That Christ paid it all and now we get it all. That there is no reason by which we cannot come to him. That he is saying I have made a way through the perfect death and the sacrificial or the sacrificial death and the perfect resurrection and the life of Jesus for you to come. It shatters our excuses.
Cole Ragsdale:So what do we do with these first few verses in Isaiah chapter 55? I would say this. Is may we stop chasing junk food and come hungry to Christ. May we stop chasing the things to to satisfy our souls that will never satisfy our soul and instead come hungry to Christ's table in which he has promised us good and rich food. Now I don't have time to go full in detail here but in verses three through five, Isaiah hitches this promise to to the Davidic covenant AKA that which was going to be that's going to be fulfilled in Christ and essentially what he's saying is like, hey, this promise isn't just like a a specific promise.
Cole Ragsdale:It's a global covenantal promise that I've made to David, to nation of Israel, and ultimately to the world that my table is open. And so may we be a church that sits at this table that and it accepts the invitation to the banquet where we stop chasing junk food and start coming hungry to the table of Christ. So, the invitation has been sent but how do we actually enter the banquet? Verse six tells us. It says this, seek the lord while he may be found.
Cole Ragsdale:Call upon his name while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the lord that he may have compassion on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. That we see four commands, four verbs that really drive home how do we enter this banquet. We seek, we call, we forsake and we return.
Cole Ragsdale:That quite quite simply the entrance to the banquet is done this way. Through repentance and faith. That we seek the Lord and repent of our evil. It's the only way we walk through the door. That what this passage is getting at here is the reason why we are thirsty is because we are wicked.
Cole Ragsdale:The reason why we are we are so parched is because we've chosen a way that is that not the way of God. And the way that we enter this banquet. The way that we begin to sit at God's table is that we seek the Lord what he may be found. That we would forsake our own way in order that we would turn to God's way. That we would return to the Lord.
Cole Ragsdale:Even to kind of go back to Isaiah 53 a little bit here. Isaiah chapter 53 verse six says that says this. That each one of us like sheep have gone astray. Each one turning his own way. That you and I were created to know God, love God, and live with God now and for eternity.
Cole Ragsdale:And each one of us were created for that right relationship. But in each of our own way we have turned our own way and are heading in a direction away from God. And God is calling to us come. Come back. And if we would seek the Lord, forsake this begotten way and we would return to the Lord.
Cole Ragsdale:If we would pivot back to him. If we would repent and have faith in him then we would be granted entrance into this feast. Now it's really interesting here in verse six and seven that there appears to be a time restriction on this. It says that we should seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon the Lord while he is near.
Cole Ragsdale:I think that Isaiah is expressing a level of urgency. That the door is open. Make sure that you seek him before it closes. I think this is a warning to us that our delay in repentance is dangerous. That the Lord is invited but this door will not be open forever.
Cole Ragsdale:That life has a way of closing faster than we ever anticipated. That we are called to seek the Lord to forsake our way to return to Him. That that that this type of repentance this type of change is not merely a tweak but is a total reorientation of our lives. That that that repentance is is not simply cosmetic but it's foundational. I want you to imagine you you you've got this house that has a cracked foundation.
Cole Ragsdale:That
Jeffrey Heine:that
Cole Ragsdale:it would be it's unsafe and it's unsturdy. But instead of addressing the cracked foundation, you just put a fresh like a fresh coat of paint on it. That that it looks great cosmetically but the foundation is still fractured. In the same way as Isaiah is calling the people to forsake their wicked ways to to seek him while they may be found to return to the Lord. This isn't an attempt at cosmetic change.
Cole Ragsdale:This is a call to radical repentance. A total reorientation of a life that is no longer bent downward in towards self but a life that is oriented towards God and neighbor. And it is our call that if we want to enter this banquet that we must forsake our own way and turn to God's way. And what actual difference does this make in our own lives? Let's let's get practical for a second.
Cole Ragsdale:Is that this book when God is calling us to repent. When he's calling us to turn from our way to his way. May we hear that God is not trying to rip us off but our God is trying to set us free. That this is not a book in which God is trying to be a cosmic joy kill. He's he's not trying to rob us of the good that we can have.
Cole Ragsdale:No no no no no. God is not trying to rip us off. He's trying to allow us to flourish as we were made. That repentance is an invitation to align with our design. That we were made to know him, love him, and live with him forever.
Cole Ragsdale:And repentance is our way of saying, God, we want to live you. We live with you, love you, and enjoy you forever. He's not trying to rip you off church. He wants to set you free. I think this also makes a real difference in your life is that if we're honest our way isn't working.
Cole Ragsdale:That if I would have been teaching here as a sophomore in high school I would have told you that one of the pivotal moments of me giving my life to Christ was realizing that Jesus does a better job of running my life than I do. That when I try to do it my way, when we try to go Cole's way, I typically end up in the ditch. But when we trust in Christ and allow for him to do the heavy lifting of this life, it seems to go well with my soul. I think this makes a real difference knowing that God's way is for our flourishment not for our detriment. And then even how beautiful these these words are is that in verse seven it says, and let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion on him and to our God he will abundantly pardon.
Cole Ragsdale:Why this actually matters for your life? Friends that God's pardon is far better than your shame. That God's pardon is far better than your guilt. God's pardon is far better than your sin. May we repent and enter this banquet of joy.
Cole Ragsdale:And I think lastly and I've already mentioned it the urgency of this passage. I think this matters for our life tonight because this invite doesn't last forever. That there is coming a day that we will stand before Him. We will give an account. That delay in repentance is dangerous.
Cole Ragsdale:And Joel says this so well is that good people don't go to heaven. Humble people do. And bad people don't go to hell. Proud people do. That ultimately repentance is us humbling ourselves to say God your way is better than my way.
Cole Ragsdale:And any alternative is an arrogant affront to His holiness. So what do we do with this? I think the simple response is that we trade our ways for God's ways and we enter the banquet. That we trade our ways of parenting, our ways of financial management, our ways of relationships, our ways of social media, our ways of you fill in the blank for God's ways. And then we enter the banquet.
Cole Ragsdale:And thank goodness this is not a banquet of, the dinner party you get invited to that you don't wanna go to. The one that, feels awkward and out of place, maybe doesn't serve the best food. This is a really good banquet. Let's let's learn about this banquet in verse 10. Says for as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but the water, the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and the bread to the eater.
Cole Ragsdale:So my word be that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty but it shall accomplish that which I purpose and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace. The mountains and hills before you shall break into singing and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of thorn shall come up the cypress instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle and it shall make a name for the lord.
Cole Ragsdale:That this banquet of joy is marked by two things. One, it's the unfailing word of the lord. That God's word is unlike any other word that when he speaks it will accomplish its purpose. There is no question mark about it. That God always speaks in a period never in a question mark.
Cole Ragsdale:That what he said will come to pass. And then the second mark of this banquet is a transformed creation. That while Israel you have been in exile, while Christian you have lived in a sinful and a broken world. There is a feast for you in which there will be joy and peace. And even if you don't experience it the trees will begin to clap their hands.
Cole Ragsdale:That the hills before you will break into singing. This is a firework display of the hope of a new creation. That we are going to taste and see of the Lord and there will be joy and there will be singing and there will be rejoicing and dancing. That this is this is the magnitude of the gospel. That Jesus' perfect life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection don't just change spiritual things, it changes everything.
Cole Ragsdale:Real quickly here, I think this is amazing. When Jesus is on the cross, he takes on the full burden of the curse of sin. That I think I think sin it obviously wrecks our relationship with God. It fractures that which we were supposed to have with our creator. Sin also doesn't just fracture our relationship with God.
Cole Ragsdale:It fractures our relationship with each other. That there's this divide between brother, sister, friend, and friend. But not only that, that that sin wrecks our internal peace, that insecurity and fear and shame run rampant. It wrecks your relationship with yourself. But then something I had never heard that I think this passage speaks to is that sin also wrecks our relationship with nature.
Cole Ragsdale:With with with the rest of creation. And that on the cross of Christ Jesus takes on the full burden of the curse. That on the cross Jesus cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? God and man. That that curse put on Jesus.
Cole Ragsdale:That on the cross of Christ Jesus was abandoned by all of his friends. Jesus is bearing the curse of of man and man being separated. That that that Jesus while he was on the cross, second Corinthians five twenty one, he who knew no sin became sin on our behalf. That Jesus perfect righteousness became sin for us. Internal split.
Cole Ragsdale:And then friends, what did they place on Jesus's head? A crown of thorns. Nature in man. Creation in man. And here in Isaiah chapter 55 instead of thorn shall come up cypress.
Cole Ragsdale:Instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle. Why? Because it will make a great name for the Lord. That our great servant of Isaiah 53 has paid the price for the totality of sin. The magnitude of the gospel is that it doesn't just change spiritual things, it changes everything.
Cole Ragsdale:Our relationship with God, our relationship with each other, our relationship with our self, and yes, our relationship with the created world. And this great name for the Lord is an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. That this is a banquet of joy because we were invited by one who paid the price. And if we want to enter this banquet, we must turn from our sin and trust in the Lord Jesus. And then there will be a banquet of great joy waiting for those who have forsaken their own way and who have embraced the Lord's.
Cole Ragsdale:And so the church historic has always celebrated this banquet or remembered this banquet with the taking of communion. That Jesus on the night he was betrayed, took bread and he broke it. He says, this is my body given for you. And then he took the cup and said, now this is my blood poured out for you. And, the apostle Paul would later go on to say, that whenever you eat of this bread and drink of this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
Cole Ragsdale:And sisters and brothers, he will come again. And so this afternoon we're going to take communion together as a way for us to remember the sacrificial death, the victorious resurrection, and the life that Jesus gave for us. So I'd like to invite our servers to go ahead and come forward. The way that we'll take communion this afternoon, we'll start with you guys in the balcony. And if you just wanna make your way down, you'll take off a piece of the bread and dip it in the non alcoholic wine and you'll hear the words said.
Cole Ragsdale:This is Christ's body given for you and his blood poured out for you. This table is open to any baptized believer, to anyone who would say I am a sinner who wants to forsake my own way and choose God's way. So as we take communion may we taste of this great banquet. Let's pray together. Father thank you that your son changes everything.
Cole Ragsdale:I thank you that the invitation is available to all who would hear, who would turn from their ways and trust in you. And so Jesus, may we trust in you now. And we pray these things for your glory's sake through the son and by the spirit. Amen.
