For those who have doubts about past events and the way forward, God has already spoken. Today is the day of salvation. The questions that many people have is: I’m waiting for an experience of God, how long will it be before I meet him? Is this for me? Am I wasting my time? Some wonder "What more can I do?" And then others, who had definitely known the touch of God in their lives, and yet are comparing themselves to other people, are wondering, "Is what I had the real thing? Or am I to wait for something else? Everyone else’s experience seems more real, is mine a second class version? Am I third class, and so on, and will I ever make it to that level which is the real thing?"
I knew those thoughts weren’t right. And I said to God, "Please show me your answer to these questions. Show me that I might understand what is the answer." And I opened my Bible where I had left it off last time, in Isaiah.
Isaiah 55:1-11
These questions had been troubling me and I think sometimes when we pray we don’t expect an immediate response, but I opened my Bible and this is what I read. And from that moment there was no doubt about what I wanted to share with you. Some of you here this morning have not known anything other than church life. As we all grow up, whatever environment we grow up in, we all want to explore things which have not been part of our experience. We have to be careful.
Isaiah 55:2
We need to be careful as we look at our options in life and what our ambitions are, that what we put our energies into isn’t that which produces the wrong thing. You can end up having put all the time in and at the end you say, “What was it all about?”
Others may be here who weren’t in a Christian environment, and maybe what you’ve seen already is an environment where the product seems to you so pointless. Really, it doesn’t matter what your upbringing is, what this writer is flagging is, “Don’t spend money on that which does not satisfy.”
God wants to speak to you, He is speaking to you. And I don’t mean just now, just through what I’m saying, I mean God’s word has already gone out to you. Because if He wasn’t saying something, He wouldn’t say, "Listen." So if you’re waiting for God to speak, let me tell you, He already has.
What was the “unfailing love” He promised to David?
Psalm 89:20-28
Here is the covenant that God would enter with all of us. A covenant of love, of faithfulness, of mercy. Just listen and come.
Psalm 89:26
And when you listen and when you come, this is what it will produce in you: a recognition that everything comes from Him. He is the rock of my salvation. Listen, listen and come.
Isaiah 55:6
So what of the here and now? What are we waiting for?
2 Corinthians 6:2
So if you’ve been sitting there saying, “I’m waiting for God, maybe some day.” I’m saying to you that that day is now. Now is the day of salvation.
Isaiah 55:7
You know when you realise inside that things are not right. When you realise that what’s in your heart is not what should be there. And often it’s the circumstances of life that teach us that.
A group of women in a Bible study got onto the subject of the refiners fire - they didn’t know what it meant. In preparation for the following week they went away to find the point of the fire. One of the ladies went to a silversmith, and she watched him work the metal, how he heated it up. She understood that as the metal was heated the imperfections came to the surface, and he would get rid of these. Ultimately she said to him, "How do you know when it’s finished?" He said to her, "Oh that’s easy. It’s finished when I can see my image in the silver." That is how God works with us. Nothing is wasted.
I wonder as I look out on this family of God this morning, do you believe this word to you? It is for you and it is for now.
Isaiah 55:1
I can’t add to what this says. It doesn’t say that when you come and when you turn that the heavens will open. It doesn’t say that there will be a lightning flash. It doesn’t say that you will have an electric shock. What it does say is this: He will have mercy upon him and will abundantly pardon. It says, "Come, listen and I will make an everlasting covenant with you" – that’s what it says. Am I saying that God won’t give you experiences? No, He will. I’m saying that this is the foundation of everything: come open your ears, today is the day of salvation.
We need to get to know the Scriptures, individually. Not relying on church but knowing it for yourself.
God has already spoken to you and it is in this Book. He will make it alive to you and Christ will rise in your heart.
A friend of mine, who is, I guess, a business colleague, has taken it upon himself to undertake one-on-one Bible studies with non-Christians. So far, I think he is working with eight men in London; he’s taking them through the Gospel of John. I meet up with him from time to time, and he tells me how it is going.
This verse sums up his motivation for doing what he is doing:
2 Peter 1:19
Isaiah 55:10-11
God has already spoken. He describes how He has spoken and what is the effect in this scripture. It is just like the rain that waters the earth, and as the earth is watered it brings forth fruit. The fruit is seed to the sower and bread to the eater. On the one hand, bread for the hungry, and on the other hand, seed to be replanted so that there is more fruit to feed the hungry.
When we were away on holiday, we met a couple. They were going for the first time on a mission to Ghana. We met them at a dinner party and they were talking about their preparations for this trip. They told us about how God had provided everything for them. Although they were apprehensive, they were excited. I’ve heard through other friends that they had a fantastic time.
While they were there, and I think it was the end of a long day, when David had seen several hundred patients, the church team brought him a little girl in a bad state. He realised that she had been beaten. He asked her who had done it to her, and the answer was her mother. David was indignant at this so he asked to see the mother. He spent some time with her explaining that her child was a gift from God, so should be treasured and nurtured. The long and the short of the story was that the mother came to the church meeting, and at the end of the meeting, there she was at the front. She gave her heart to Christ, and committed her life to Him. She came, she listened and she turned.
You see, the seed that was bread to David, became the seed to be sown in his hand. He’s just an ordinary guy. When I met him, we talked and he just opened up to me about what God has done in his life. And then I heard about his trip to Ghana, and then the bread that had been provided to him: the bread to the eater and the seed to the sower. This is what it is all about. It’s why we do what we do here in church, in outreach. But more than that, this is our daily walk.
Isaiah 55:11
I wonder where you stand this morning. All your hopes and ambitions and ideas for the rest of your life - be careful what they are grounded in. Is it for things that will satisfy or is it for this bread? Have you been waiting for God to do something, and in the meantime you just carry on? His word has already gone out. Come, listen, turn.
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