"Come! Buy! Eat! Enjoy!" (Morning)
Download MP3If you have a Bible, I invite you to turn to Isaiah chapter 55. As we are continuing our study in the book of Isaiah, I I know the text or the worship god actually says Isaiah 53 but it it's not it's Isaiah 55. It's there in your worship guide. Last week, I I heard from just a few of you how you were hoping more would be said that you were a little disappointed that I did not mention some events or people specifically by name. And and there's a lot that I I I would love to talk to you about.
Joel Brooks:But I want to remind you of why we're here. When the apostle Paul when he went to Corinth, he went in and the the the people at Corinth, they had some expectations for Paul. They had some topics they wanted him to address. They had some pretty pressing issues. I mean, after all, you know, the they're there under Roman occupation.
Joel Brooks:There were some hot topics that they wanted Paul to speak into. But instead, Paul went and he said this, I determined to know nothing among you except for Jesus Christ and him crucified. He did not address any of those things. Instead, he preached Jesus Christ and him crucified and the reason he did that is because there's only one hope we have in life and death. And that's the gospel.
Joel Brooks:And he wanted to make sure that in all circumstance, in everything that is happening, all the baggage, all the hurt, all the sin that we bring in, we know the one hope we have, and it's Christ. Now some people listen to that and they weren't impressed. They literally say, you're not impressive. They actually called Paul weak and they left. And there were others though who listened and they were transformed by the gospel.
Joel Brooks:That's what the gospel does. The gospel, it it always divides but for those who actually hear and those who listen, this is the only hope we have for the gospel alone changes hearts and I just want to say as clear as I can that this is what I strive to do every Sunday from this pulpit. That I realize the only hope that could ever be proclaimed here is the hope that we have in Christ. And I I know I don't do that perfectly but boy, that is what I strive for and I can't think of a greater passage for us to look at this morning than Isaiah 55 because Isaiah 55 is an invitation to the gospel. For us to enjoy the all the blessings that come from the gospel.
Joel Brooks:If you remember Isaiah 53, it was about the servant, the suffering servant, how he came and through his death and through his resurrection, he has atoned for our sins. That flowed into Isaiah 54, which was which was about all sorts of blessings being promised to us. And now we come to chapter 55 which is the official invitation to come and to enjoy the blessings that we find in the gospel. And so let's read all of Isaiah chapter 55. Come everyone who thirst.
Joel Brooks:Come to the waters and he who has no money, come, buy, and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me and eat what is good and delight yourself in rich food. Incline your ear and come to me.
Joel Brooks:Hear that your soul may live. And I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and a commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that you did not know that did not know you shall run to you because of the lord your god and of the holy one of Israel for he has glorified you. Seek the lord while he may be found.
Joel Brooks:Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and their 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. 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 are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Joel Brooks:For as the rain and the snow come down from earth and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, 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 which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace and the mountains and the 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 the cypress, 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.
Joel Brooks:This is the word of the lord. You pray with me. Lord, we ask that in this moment, your word would go forth and it would not return void, but it would produce fruit in us. Lord, no one needs to hear from me in this moment for my words are death. Your words are the words of life.
Joel Brooks:And so I pray that my words would fall to the ground and they will blow away and they would not be remembered anymore. Lord, may your words remain and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen. This chapter, it could best be described as an invitation but as we know, there's actually two very different types of invitations.
Joel Brooks:There's the invitation that comes by way of the host sending out, you know, perhaps a card or a evite and it invites you to to some birthday party or a dinner or a wedding or something like that. There's that type of invitation. And then there's the invitation in which we just find a place to be really inviting. You know, like maybe a a crisp fall day and there's, you know, beam of sunlight coming down on a a field of grass that's right by a mountain stream and and it looks so inviting. Or or perhaps it's, your couch with the masters on.
Joel Brooks:And you're like, I just oh, to lay down and to, vaguely just kinda watch a little bit of golf and listen to the piped in birds and you're like, that's so inviting. So, which one, which invitation is this that we find here in Isaiah 55? It's both. God is inviting us to the most inviting place we could possibly imagine. He he's inviting us to this feast.
Joel Brooks:Lauren and I, we often get invited to to different little fundraisers and we call them not all of them but we call a lot of them just rubber chicken dinner because that's what we're going to get. You know, perhaps you have been to some of those, you know what they're going to serve, and you're like, we probably should go. That's not this. It's not that type of invitation. Man, which are like, I probably should go.
Joel Brooks:This is an invitation to a feast that you absolutely do not want to miss. Because look at what's being served at this feast. We're being served water, milk, wine, which granted is an odd combination. But this is what those things represent. Water is what what quenches your thirst.
Joel Brooks:There's nothing better than water to to quench a thirsty soul. Water is what gives you life. Milk. Well, milk is being given something that will nourish you, something will strengthen you. And wine is what gladdens the heart.
Joel Brooks:I mean, where there's wine, there's singing, there's laughter. God is saying that in his presence, all of your anxieties, all your sorrows, they're just gonna melt away and you're gonna become like a child. You're gonna feel so light, so joyful in my presence. So what God is inviting us to is really inviting. It's it's astounding actually.
Joel Brooks:And he really wants you to come. I mean, this isn't one of those awkward invites, you know, that you get when you just happen to bump into an acquaintance and you're like, hey, you're looking great. You're looking great. You know, we should get together sometime. Yeah, come on over.
Joel Brooks:That's not an invite. You realize that's never going to happen. But hear god saying, come, come, come, buy, eat, enjoy, come. You don't have to bring anything. Come.
Joel Brooks:I've already prepared everything. He really wants you to be there. I I don't know what kind of church, you know, that you grew up in or if you grew up in church at all or what your early thoughts about god were like. Perhaps, for some of you, that your early thoughts were that god is standoffish and he wants to keep you at arm's length. But I hope you see here, no.
Joel Brooks:God wants nothing more than for you to be in his presence and to be filled with joy. It's a heck of an invitation here. And it doesn't matter who you are, what you've done. Because look at who he invites. The first invitation, it goes out there's two invitations to two very different people and the first one goes out to the one who has nothing, who has no money at all.
Joel Brooks:Those with no money are the ones who have nothing to offer anyone. They represent perhaps the one who who feels like they have no moral ground to stand on. The people who have a past they're ashamed of, possibly a present that they're ashamed of. These are the people with with nothing left in the tank. Every day is just a grind and they feel drained.
Joel Brooks:These are the people who because they have nothing to offer anyone, they likely have few if any deep friendships. Because who wants to be a friend to someone so needy, a friend with someone who's just gonna suck the life out of you. These are the people struggling in their marriages or the ones who have strained relationships with their kids. These are the ones who've given up on prayer because honestly, just why try? What's the use?
Joel Brooks:So if I could summarize that this invitation goes out to those who have nothing and who feel like nothing. And Jesus says, come. Hear me, the only thing that's required for you be able to come is thirst. That's it. If you're thirsty, this feast is for you.
Joel Brooks:You've heard me say this a thousand times. I will probably say it a thousand more But if you read through your bible, it's not the good who go to heaven and the bad who go to hell. It's the humble who go to heaven and it's the proud who go to hell. The humble go to heaven because they're the ones who are thirsty. They're the ones who know they're insufficient.
Joel Brooks:They're the ones who know they need life giving water. The proud, they're the ones who say, well, I'm just fine. Thank you. And they're resistant to grace. So, those who have nothing are the first people to receive an invitation.
Joel Brooks:The second type of people who are invited to enjoy this feast are in many ways the opposite of the first. Far from being poor, the next person invited actually has money. But they're spending it on all the wrong things. Look at verse two. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread?
Joel Brooks:And your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligent to me diligently to me and eat what is good and delight yourselves in rich food. You know, after Jesus fed the 5,000 with the the few loaves and fish, you know, I I'm I never can remember. Is it two loaves and five fish or the opposite? I'm dyslexic and it's just it's all on blurred, somebody.
Joel Brooks:You don't know either. Alright. I'm not alone. Thank you. Well, just a few.
Joel Brooks:It wasn't much. Can we agree to that? Alright. So, he he fed 5,000 which was really, you know, 15 to 20,000 with with just a few loaves and a few fish And after he did that, we read in John's gospel that he immediately that night, he he walked eight miles across the Sea Of Galilee on the water to the other side. When people woke up in the morning, they're like, where's Jesus?
Joel Brooks:They hear he's on the other side. So, those who got boats went over there. The other people they went around and they all went to go find Jesus again. And when Jesus sees him, he says, I know why you're here. You want more food.
Joel Brooks:You just want more bread. Then he says, do not labor for the food that perishes but for the food that endures to eternal life. And they respond to Jesus by going, yeah, yeah, sure. Yeah, that sounds great. But you know what?
Joel Brooks:When Moses was around, he actually gave people bread every single day. Just saying. And Jesus, he quickly corrects them. He he says, you're wrong. It wasn't Moses who gave them bread.
Joel Brooks:It was my father. He's the one who gave them bread. And now he's offering you true bread. True bread from heaven. And they said, sounds great.
Joel Brooks:Give us that bread. That's yep. That's why we're here. True bread from heaven. And Jesus said, I'm that bread.
Joel Brooks:I'm the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. And you read that the people responded by grumbling. Not the bread I was hoping for. You cannot have a better commentary on Isaiah 55 than that story.
Joel Brooks:Jesus obviously has Isaiah 55 in mind. He doesn't just have it in mind. Jesus is presenting himself as the fulfillment of Isaiah 55. When these people come to Jesus and they just want more bread, Jesus could have given it to them. In that moment, certainly.
Joel Brooks:He already proved he could. He could just multiply bread. He could have given everyone physical food that would have filled their bellies, and then they would have needed it again the next morning, and the next morning, and the next morning. But he could have done it. So this isn't a question as to whether Jesus had the power to fill these people's bellies.
Joel Brooks:Jesus though, he looks and he he wants to address something deeper. He said, there's a greater hunger than the physical hunger you're feeling. There's actually a much deeper hunger and I wanna satisfy that. You see, we're not just as humans, we're not just physical beings with physical needs. God created us with souls.
Joel Brooks:And having a full belly and an empty soul is is one of the absolute worst possible existences you could have. Because you're nothing more than a shell. I mean, you look good on the outside, you've got a great veneer, but inside you're hollow. That's hell. And some of you know exactly what I'm talking about.
Joel Brooks:Because that's what you feel. You were created to experience something far greater than just food, far greater than just creature comforts. And yet God's saying, you know what you were created for, so why are you spending all your time on the things that aren't gonna ultimately satisfy you? Why are you working so hard on your shell? Why inside you're empty?
Joel Brooks:Let me ask you this question. It's something I've been asking myself all week. What food are you currently laboring for? I want you to think. This is not a rhetorical question.
Joel Brooks:I actually want you to think. Think back to the last couple of years and ask yourself, where did I spend my energy? Where did I exhaust my energy over the last couple of years? What was I doing? What was I reading?
Joel Brooks:What was I posting? Where where did all my energy go? What was constantly occupying my brain space? Where did my money go? So just just take a few seconds and think.
Joel Brooks:And now I want you to ask yourself, was it worth it? Did it satisfy? Not only did ask that question, did it satisfy? Did it even close the gap a little between the things that you were hoping for this life, expecting to feel in this life? Did it even close the gap a little between your hope and and the reality?
Joel Brooks:Or did these things just, all your labors to pursue all of those things serve as nothing more than just some momentary distraction? And now you're on to the next momentary distraction. Distracting you from that hollowness that you feel. Over the years of pursuing many things, one of the things that I found is that the feeling of getting something has always proved to be better or more exhilarating than the feeling of having something. The feeling of getting something has always been better than the feeling of having.
Joel Brooks:You know, when you get something, it's new, it's exciting, thrilling. And then once you have it, it's just kinda something you have. And it becomes boring. It loses its luster. And God here, he's asking in verse two, he said, what exactly is the payoff for all the things that you've been sacrificing for?
Joel Brooks:Several years ago, we went through the book of Ecclesiastes. I think it's one of the best, most fruitful studies we've ever done as a church. And if you remember, Solomon, he decided in the first chapter that he was gonna do this great experiment. He decided that he was gonna use all of his wisdom, all of his wealth, all of his power in order to pursue pleasure with everything he had. And then he was gonna see if there was meaning to be found in it.
Joel Brooks:He basically, what he was trying to do, he was trying to recreate a garden of Eden. He's gonna try to recreate paradise, a place of bounty where, you know, you can run around naked all day and be unashamed. But this time, he was gonna create a paradise without any restrictions. Nothing was gonna be off limits. And so he did.
Joel Brooks:He he began throwing the most epic parties the world had ever seen. Great Gatsby, but on steroids. Then he got bored. Tired of waking up, you know, passed out in the lawn. He got he got bored of this.
Joel Brooks:And so he he moved on to something else. He said, why don't I do the opposite? Instead of just, you know, parting my life away, I'm gonna I'm gonna give myself to a career. I'm gonna build something that lasts and he builds homes. He builds gardens.
Joel Brooks:He builds national parks. He builds all of these things. Then, he got bored with that. Didn't find meaning in it. So, then, he moved on and he said, well, maybe I'll go in a different direction.
Joel Brooks:I'll just be as lazy as I can And so, he begins just going out every night, eating the best foods. We read he's going to concerts. He's always bringing in singers. We would essentially say like he's retiring, playing golf every day, getting massages every day, just you know, he has given in to this laziness here. And he's bored.
Joel Brooks:Could not be more bored. So finally, he says, well, I know what I'll do. I'll I'll pursue lust. And so he marries 700 women. That is a wedding a week for fourteen years.
Joel Brooks:Lot of weddings. And then somehow in that time, he added 300 concubines. And in the end, he said, it's meaningless. I mean he was laboring and laboring for what wasn't satisfying. Sure he had some pleasurable moments that were some momentary distractions, but he found his soul.
Joel Brooks:This soul that was deep within him actually to be so so hungry as he was doing all those things. He just became miserable because he knows he was made for something more. And the problem is this. Yes, he created another Garden of Eden. Yes, he had actually created a paradise but god wasn't in the middle of it.
Joel Brooks:And hear me, a a paradise without god in the middle, without taking walks with god in the cool of the evening, a paradise without god is actually a hell. And that's what he found. It's it's this eternal thirst without having the ability to quench it. It's being able to get whatever you want until you no longer want it, but you can't imagine your life without it. Did you hear that?
Joel Brooks:That that's hell. It's it's being able to get whatever you want until you no longer want it, But you can't imagine your life without it. I think this is where some of us live. We're right there in that spot. I know there's got to be some people as I look around this room.
Joel Brooks:People who are not at all satisfied with their life, the life that they've chosen, the life they've sacrificed so much for, and yet they can't imagine trying something different. They're stuck. Seventeen years ago, I left a a really good job that I loved and started Redeemer because Lauren and I, the lord clearly was calling us in that direction. I can vividly remember my last day at the previous church I was serving. I preached that morning and afterwards, people were coming up and they were talking to me and a very wealthy man, very successful in his late forties, which I thought was so old at the time.
Joel Brooks:This man came up to me and he said, hey, Joel, just want you know, we'll miss you. I said, miss you too. He was turning to walk off and he stopped and he came back. And he he was just wrestling with what he should say, should he say it. And finally, just said, he goes, you know, I envy you.
Joel Brooks:I wish I could change. I wish I could just change. Wish I could change the the course of my life. And then he said, he goes, but I guess the the lot's just been cast. I think about that conversation all the time.
Joel Brooks:I've had that conversation with numerous people since then. I don't know what I exactly said at the time. I was young. I said something probably really generic and stupid. Like, yeah, we'll see you later.
Joel Brooks:You know, or hope hope our paths meet again. Like, I mean, I'm sure I said just something dumb. I wish I was, you know, 34 at the time. Who knows what came out of my mouth? Can I tell you what I wish I had said?
Joel Brooks:This is what I wish I had said. I wish I had said, why are you still laboring for food that doesn't satisfy? It's not too late. God's actually inviting you to a new life. Listen to him.
Joel Brooks:I don't know where he's gonna lead you. I don't know what he's gonna do, but just listen to him. That that's what god tells us to do in verse three. That's how we come is we listen. Incline your ear and come to me.
Joel Brooks:Hear that your soul may live. So listening, just inclining your ear is how we accept the invitation and we come to God. And by this, I don't mean that you just open up your bibles and you read and you pray. No. No.
Joel Brooks:No. You can do that without listening. You are to open up your bibles and you are to read and to pray with a listening posture. Lord, I'm doing these things because I want to hear from you. I mean, you're anything like me, there have been times that you have prayed something like this.
Joel Brooks:God, I'm really struggling with this. I don't really know what to do. So if you would just if you would just give me wisdom right now, tell me what to do, I'd appreciate it. Amen. Then I leave.
Joel Brooks:There was no listening. I asked god a question. He's like, where are you going? I mean, can imagine if I if I did that, you know, in other relationships? You know, if if I'm, you know, if I have this conversation with Lauren and I'm I'm like, hey, wifey.
Joel Brooks:I call her wifey. I'm like, hey. Hey wifey. Should we invite so and so over for dinner? And she goes, well, and I just turn.
Joel Brooks:And I just walk away. Nobody nobody talks like that. Yet we do it all the time in prayer, don't we? And how many times do we do that in prayer? I mean, I've been in so many meetings in which we've done this.
Joel Brooks:Lord, we're looking for your wisdom. We want you to show us. We want you to direct us. Amen. Gone.
Joel Brooks:Listen. Listen. Let the majority of your prayer life be listening. I mean God knows what you need so you don't have to spend all your time telling him the things he already knows. Take time to just stop and to listen.
Joel Brooks:It's remarkable. You know what? That if you read God's word with a commitment to obey it, and then you pray and you ask God to speak to you, he actually speaks through his spirit. He's gonna he's gonna probably like affirm who you are as his child to let you know that you are so loved. Then he's gonna say like, hey, and this is what I I'd like for you to do.
Joel Brooks:He's gonna lead you on a path. He'll tell you. It's remarkable. And here's the deal, like whatever path he is leading you on, no matter how scary it is, no matter how sacrificial it seems to be, know that he's actually leading you to a feast. A real feast.
Joel Brooks:Your soul's gonna be so filled. Back to the story of the man I talked to seventeen years ago. It was obvious that in this moment, the spirit had kind of pricked this man's heart, was was opening it up. And so at least for this moment, he had this ability to see a different path. And this is the next thing I wish I had told him.
Joel Brooks:It's down to verse six. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Gosh, I wish I had told this man this because the lord doesn't always stir our hearts. The door is not always open.
Joel Brooks:And so when he does stir our hearts, he opens it, you better you better move in. You gotta seek him in those moments. Stop whatever you're doing. Seek him. There's nothing more important.
Joel Brooks:Listen, God does not go by your calendar. I mean, it's not like when when he comes to you and he he he begins like speaking and opening up your heart, you you can't say to him, this great god, got a lot going on. Next Tuesday, 11:00, I've got an opening. Can we reschedule? No.
Joel Brooks:God's saying I'm here now. Now. Do you have something more important? Verse seven, the lord comes upon this wicked man and tells him that now is the time to act. Says, now is the time to get off the path you are currently on because it's not gonna lead to true bread.
Joel Brooks:You're not gonna be satisfied. So he tells this man in this moment, change paths now. Not tomorrow, not in an hour, change paths now because you don't know how long this door is gonna be open. We've all had those times when when God's given us this moment of clarity. It's like we could see our lives from a whole new point of view for the first time.
Joel Brooks:It gives us this moment of clarity. Lean into it. Don't lean away. God next says, you know, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways, my ways, declares the lord for his higher or as as the heavens are higher than the earth or my ways, higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. He is essentially saying, here in this moment, hey, I know you think that the path you're on is the right one.
Joel Brooks:You think it's the way to to if you keep doing this, you will be satisfied. Trust me it's not. I know where that path leads. And I've got a better way. Could you trust me like, my thoughts are not your thoughts.
Joel Brooks:I've got a higher point of view. I can see the end from the beginning. I can see it all. So you need to let go of your old life and you need to embrace what I'm offering you. Then this chapter ends with god telling us the effects of his words.
Joel Brooks:So when we listen to him, he is now telling us, this is what my words are going to produce in you. Look at verse 10. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, make again bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be. It 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.
Joel Brooks:So when God speaks to us and his word comes into us, rest assured, he's gonna accomplish something. Fruit's gonna be born. Hear the word that God speaks to you. I mean, it might sound like it's death at times. But here's the word he speaks.
Joel Brooks:It's the very next thing. You shall go out in joy. You will be led forth in peace. The mountains and the and the hills are gonna break forth in singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. That's what Jesus is calling you to.
Joel Brooks:That's what his word accomplishes in you. Joy fills that that empty void in there with just unbridled joy and with peace. That's the invitation that's extended before you this morning. I don't know of a better invitation. There's no way I'm gonna speak on other invitations from this pulpit.
Joel Brooks:This is the invitation. So if you're thirsty, come. If you if you feel like you have nothing to offer, come. If you're just tired of trying the same old thing, laboring and laboring, Come. The invitation says to delight yourself in rich food, to come that your soul may live.
Joel Brooks:And don't wait for tomorrow. Seek Jesus now while he may be found. Pray with me. Jesus, would you be so kind in this moment through your spirit to open up our hearts and our minds to a new possibility of how you want us to live. And, Lord, I know that when that happens, we're scared.
Joel Brooks:But lord, I I pray that you would just allow us to hear your words to to to come, to trust you, that our soul may live like truly live and not just exist. So Jesus, may we come in this moment. We pray this in your sweet name. Amen. That leads us to this table where Jesus actually he took he took tangible bread, real bread, physical bread, And he told the disciples, he said, do you see this this this bread right here?
Joel Brooks:It's actually me. It represents me. And he he points back to Isaiah 53, and he said, this is my body. It's given to you. In the same way, he took this cup.
Joel Brooks:He said, this wine, this wine points back to Isaiah 53. This is my blood that is shed for you. Poured out for the forgiveness of your sins. And I want you to eat this, and I want you to drink this, and I want you to remember the feast that my body and my blood bring to you. That's why we're here.
Joel Brooks:The apostle Paul, he would say this often as we eat of this bread and we drink of this cup, we are proclaiming the lord's death until he comes again. And Jesus will come again. This is how we're gonna take communion this moment. Like we normally do, you would come down the center aisles, and we'll have four stations up here. And if you would just break off some bread, you would dip it in the wine.
Joel Brooks:After you do so, you take as you take the bread, you're gonna hear the words this is the body of Christ given to you. As you dip it in the wine, you'll hear the words, this is his blood shed for you. After you take that, you're welcome to stay up here and pray if you want to. I hope you do. Or you can return to your seats using the outer aisles we're gonna start up there with the balcony, the last shall be first.
Joel Brooks:If you you all wanna come forward first and then we'll work our way forward. And let me pray for us before we start. Lord Jesus, you offer us a free meal, but it was not without cost. It's free to us because you have paid a tremendous cost for it. There's no way we could ever repay.
Joel Brooks:Lord, you have bought us this meal through your body and your blood. And so as we come forward and we take this, I pray that our souls would feast on you, Jesus. We pray this in your sweet name. Amen.
