The Lord’s Covenant Invitation • 05.04.25
Frasier Dew   -   May 4, 2025

Isaiah 55: The LORD’s Covenant Invitation 

How will you respond to God’s gracious invitation?

  1. You’re Invited to the Covenant of “David” & God’s People
  2. RSVP Instructions: Seek, Call, Forsake, and Return
  3. A Word About the Host
  4. What to Expect

Manuscript:

When you get your Bible, please turn with me to Isaiah 55 for our time in God’s word this morning. If you are using one of the black Bibles handed out, that is page 731.

Before we read our text, if you were here last week, you heard how Isaiah 54 described the Lord as the faithful Husband who redeems His wayward Bride. Then in Isaiah 54:10, He promised hesed – everlasting covenant love – to those who seemed barren and forgotten.

Isaiah 54:10 ESV

10 For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

Now, let’s make sure that we answer the question: What exactly does this word, “covenant,” mean? Well, in addition to the definition Pastor Nick gave us last week, I found this 2nd definition to be a really helpful clarifier:

Covenant and God’s Purpose for the World Definition of Covenant

A covenant is a chosen relationship in which two parties make binding promises to each other … Covenants stand apart from contracts because the promises are made in a relational context.

Thomas R. Schreiner, Covenant and God’s Purpose for the World, ed. Dane C. Ortlund and Miles V. Van Pelt, Short Studies in Biblical Theology (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017), 13.

Perhaps the best example we still have today of a covenant is a marriage! In marriage, a husband and a wife choose to enter a covenant relationship, and they make binding promises to each other, pledging lifelong loyalty and faithfulness. How fitting that God spoke to Israel as a loving, faithful husband, promising an eternal covenant in chapter 54, then, isn’t it?

Okay, now that we have defined our terms, let me ask you guys for a show of hands: Has anyone gotten any exciting invitations lately?

Maybe you were recently invited to lunch with some old friends? Or perhaps you have a handful of graduation parties to attend this month? Birthday parties? Baby Showers? Or, my personal favorite, maybe you recently received a wedding invitation?

Well, whatever the occasion, I especially love getting actual paper invitations in the mail! As soon as it comes in, I quickly tear open the envelope and begin to look for all the details. Who, What, When, Where, Why to come, How to RSVP; As long as you include all that in the invite, we’re good to go!

 

Today, as we come to Isaiah 55, I ask you to open up your Bible as if you were opening a personal invitation to the greatest, most exciting event of your lifetime. In fact, our text today is just that – an invitation. The hope we saw promised last week, we now see proclaimed and offered to all! As we read, be on the lookout for all of the invitation details, as you consider the question: How will you respond to God’s gracious invitation?

Isaiah 55 ESV

1 “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. 2 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 yourselves in rich food. 3 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. 4 Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. 5 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 of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. 6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 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. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 “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, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 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. 12 “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

 

When you receive an invitation, you instinctively start looking for those few important details: Who is it for? What’s the occasion? Who’s being celebrated? Did you notice them in today’s text?

Well, Isaiah answers all these questions for us, beginning with: Who is invited to this covenant feast?

1. You’re Invited to the _________ of _____ & ___ _______ (vv. 1-5)

You’re invited!

Notice verse 1 opens with this strikingly beautiful call:

Isaiah 55:1 ESV

1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!

Right away, the LORD wants us to see: this invitation is not for the proud. It is not for those who feel full in and of themselves. It is for the needy — for the desperate. In order for you to accept the invitation, you first need to see that this destitute description is talking about you. Let’s walk through the four characteristics Isaiah describes us with, and hear the reality of our condition:

First, notice that He calls the thirsty

Have you guys ever been so thirsty that your mouth begins to hurt? I am constantly forgetting to hydrate, so I know this pain all too well! Am I the only one? Or maybe for you it’s the headaches – ah, I get those too, when I don’t drink enough water. Our bodies so quickly begin to ache when they aren’t nourished.

This is important, but it’s actually not the type of thirst that Isaiah is talking about. This is speaking of souls who ache because they are empty of the Lord.

Jesus actually explained for us what it means to thirst in Matthew 5:6

Matthew 5:6 ESV

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

To thirst for righteousness is to feel the burden of your sin and the dehydration – no, the barrenness – of your own righteousness, and to long to be clothed in a righteousness that you do not currently have. Here, God calls you to be convicted of sin and to confess your need for His perfections.

But thirst isn’t the only description.

The LORD also calls the bankrupt —

Isaiah 55:1 ESV

1 …and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!

Now don’t miss this: the point isn’t that your budget is tight at the moment when you’re usually fine — the point is, you have nothing to offer. You are spiritually broke. This is a picture of total depravity. You and I come to God with no righteousness, no bargaining power, and nothing but sin-stained garments.

But how can a bankrupt person buy and eat? That’s precisely the dilemma presented by this passage! As commentator Matthew Henry puts it:

Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume Isaiah 55:1–5

Our buying without money [signifies] that we shall be welcome to the benefits of the promise, though we are utterly unworthy of them, and cannot make a tender of any thing that looks like a valuable consideration.

Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1188.

This invitation is not dependent on our ability, but on our desire! So thirsty, bankrupt, and then…

Thirdly, He calls the weary — those who have labored long, but have come up unsatisfied.

Isaiah 55:2 ESV

2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

In unimaginable compassion and pity, the Lord uses these questions to call us to come out of our foolishness. Why are you exhausting yourself for the fleeting crumbs of this world while starving yourself of the true bread from Heaven?

 

And then for the final attribute of our description, God calls those who are slow to listen

Isaiah 55:2–3 ESV

2 …Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. 3 Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live

In the Hebrew, that phrase “Listen diligently” is emphatic, or literally doubled — “Listening, you must listen.”

Why? Because we’ve been listening to every other voice except for God! The voice of worldly culture, of crippling anxieties, of whatever latest trend is sweeping the internet, and a multitude of voices telling us to live our best life now and live however you want.

But here, the LORD’s voice breaks in with mercy and grace, as He says: “Stop listening to these other voices. Do not believe the lies. Listen to Me. Hear Me — and live.”

And here’s the astounding part:
In spite of your thirst and bankruptcy, in spite of your labor in the wrong pursuits, and your wandering ears — the invitation still stands.

Notice in the text that surrounding these descriptions that disqualify you from getting an invitation, God yet calls you to come – 5 times in fact! What amazing grace He shows us!

You who thirst today – come!

You who have nothing to offer – come!

You who have spent so much of your life on vanity – come!

You who have ignored the Lord of hosts – come and hear true hope!

Your name is on the address line of God’s invitation. But to what exactly are you being invited?

And the answer is this:

1. You’re Invited to the Covenant of _____ & ___ _______ (vv. 1-5)

You are being invited to a covenant celebration! — A feast that marks the faithfulness of God and the fulfillment of His everlasting promises! We could spend an entire sermon series discussing just the theme of “covenant,” but for now, let us just look at some of the vivid imagery that Isaiah employs to describe the majesty of the event:

The Lord is inviting you to:

  1. a. Drink from the water of life, and satisfy your thirst,
  2. This invitation to come and drink implies that the Host intends to satisfy that thirst. Perhaps the clearest fulfillment of this idea is revealed in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

John 7:37–39 ESV

37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Come to the covenant today and have your thirst satisfied! Receive the Holy Spirit, who is Himself the great Living Water!

  1. Bonus verses: Isaiah 12:3; Ezekiel 47:1-12; Zechariah 14:8-9; Revelation 21:6; Revelation 22:1-5, 17
  2. Similarly: Feast on true bread, and hunger no more

 

John 6:32–35 ESV

32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Come to the covenant today and have your hunger satisfied! Receive Jesus, who is Himself the great Bread from Heaven!

  1. Bonus verses: John 6:48-51
  2. Thirdly: Hear, that your soul may live

Romans 10:14 ESV

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

Romans 10:17 ESV

17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

God, in His infinite grace and awe-inspiring providence, is inviting you, today, to hear His covenant invitation through the preaching of a mere human preacher, weak as I! I pray that by now you are earnestly considering both the sweetness and the seriousness of the invitation, and that without delay you would come into the covenant!

————-

So now we know what we are being invited to celebrate, but still we need to know “Whom are we celebrating?”

Every party, every wedding, every banquet has a person of honor. So, who’s at the center of this celebration?

Look with me at verse 4:

4 Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples.

Who is this “him”?

1. You’re Invited to the Covenant of “David” & ___ _______ (vv. 1-5)

It is referring back to the covenant with David referenced in verse 3, but as we have already hinted at, we know from the broader scope of scripture, it is none other than Jesus Christ — the greater “David”!

Just as the angel Gabriel told Mary in Luke 1:31-33

Luke 1:31–33 ESV

31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

And, interestingly, if we follow the titles of Isaiah 55:4, we see that Jesus perfectly fulfilled each one: Witness, Leader, and Commander!

Revelation 1:5–6 ESV

5 …Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

  • Jesus is the great witness who came to testify to the truth!
  • Jesus is the great leader who leads us into freedom from our sins!
  • Jesus is the great commander: the ruler of kings, who leads the armies of heaven and rules the nations in righteousness!

Jesus Christ, who is the offspring of David according to the flesh, He is the one at the center of this great covenant celebration!

 

And then, if we continue into verse 5, we see the identity of our last person of honor:

Isaiah 55:5 ESV

5 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 of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.

 

This is the marvelous mystery hidden for ages, but finally revealed in Christ! God’s chosen people would not be limited to ethnic Israel, but people from all nations will run to and be known by the Lord! (Ephesians 2-5)

1. You’re Invited to the Covenant of “David” & God’s People (vv. 1-5)

This theme of God’s in-grafting of the nations into Israel – the people of God – runs the entire course of the Bible, and is especially prevalent in the book of Isaiah:

Isaiah 2:2-4, 11:10, 25:6-8, 42:5-6, 43:5-7, 44:5, 45:22-23, 49:6, 51:4-5, 52:10, 54:3, 56:3-7, 60:3, 62:1-2, 66:18-23

 

All of God’s people – chosen from every tribe, tongue, and nation – rejoice at this covenant celebration with their beloved bridegroom!

 

And you are invited to attend, not as a distant guest — no, it is an invitation to join God’s people! You have before you a personal invitation to be joined to Christ by hesed – unbreakable, covenantal love – and everlasting faithfulness.

You are invited today. You who thirst for righteousness.
You who know the weight of your spiritual bankruptcy.
You who are weary of striving after empty things.
You who are beginning to hear the voice of the Lord.

The LORD says to you, even now: Come!

This is the greatest, most joyful, most gracious, and most urgent invitation you will ever receive!

 

Now, after receiving a grand invitation like this, it is only natural to ask,
“What am I supposed to do with it?”

When you get a wedding invitation in the mail, you don’t just set it aside and hope that the bride and groom know you’ll show up. Please don’t be that guy! No, you have to actually RSVP!

There are RSVP instructions right there on the invitation — and so there are here.

Look at verses 6–7 with me:

Isaiah 55:6–7 ESV

6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 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.

The LORD Himself gives us four simple, yet urgent commands for how we are to respond to His gracious invitation.

2. RSVP Instructions: Seek, Call, Forsake, and Return (vv. 6-7)

Isaiah 55:6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found…”

To seek the LORD is to set your heart and your mind toward looking for Him with earnestness and urgency.

This is a very practical thing, go and look for Him! You might say, “How do I do that? Where do I find Him?”

Well, I can give you no better instructions than to read the Bible and to pray.

Like a gold miner relentlessly digging into the earth for priceless treasures, you must determine that God is worth searching for and then “dig” into His word and discover the infinite treasure of who He is and what He has done!

What might this look like for you this week?

If you’re seeking God for the very first time, maybe start by finding a quiet space in your home where you can focus and pray. Try setting aside at least 10 minutes each day this week to read a passage from the Bible, then use a notebook to write down your thoughts and any questions that come up, and then pray about those thoughts and questions!

If you’re not sure where to start, my personal recommendation would be to start with the Book of John, which is one of the gospel accounts near the beginning of the New Testament. And if you don’t have a Bible at home, please take one home with you today! We would love for you to be able to seek the Lord this week!

 

Now, notice in our passage that this command to seek Him is connected with the instruction to:

Isaiah 55:6 “…call upon him while he is near;”

To call upon the Lord is to cry out to Him and Him alone for deliverance! In a very real sense, it is similar to the apostle Peter’s cry when he was afraid to drown:

Matthew 14:30 ESV

30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.”

Like Peter, we are instructed to be willing to risk it all on God. Either Jesus is God and is actually able to save me from my sin, or I am going down to the depths of the sea! I must call upon Him while He is near!

Don’t allow yourself to imagine any sort of backup plan – your makeshift life-jacket of self-righteousness will not save you like it promises.

No, instead, we are instructed to place our trust in Jesus alone, call upon His name, and trust that He will indeed save us:

Romans 10:9 ESV

9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:13 ESV

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

 

Also, notice the urgency of each of these instructions! Seek and call upon the Lord:

Isaiah 55:6 “6 “…while he may be found … while he is near;”

These conditions show us that there is a window of opportunity to seek the Lord and call upon His name, but it will not stay open forever.

 

Commentator Edward Young puts it this way:

The Book of Isaiah: Volume 3, Chapters 40–66 Chapter Fifty-Five

This is to take place, however, when God permits Himself to be found. Sovereign grace is apparent in these words. God cannot be found at any time but only when He desires to be found. What is implied is that the present, when these commands are given, is the time of salvation. The thought is similar to that expressed in 2 Corinthians 6:2.

Young, Edward. The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40–66. Vol. 3. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1972.

Which reads:

2 Corinthians 6:2 ESV

2 For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Please don’t read the Lord’s covenant invitation today and think to yourself, “I’ve got plenty of years to get right with God, there’s no need to respond any time soon.”

My dear friend, you are putting God to the test and your very soul on the line. Whether it is from the Lord’s return or your own unexpected passing, you will find yourself excluded from the covenant if you do not RSVP before the window of opportunity closes!

Please, do not confirm your own ticket to Hell by spurning the Lord’s invitation today. The Lord may perhaps be found right now. He is near at this very hour – call upon Him!

 

And then notice that calling upon the Lord is not merely a one-time, momentary cry. It is the genuine cry of a heart that is forsaking its old ways and returning to Him in faith.

The LORD doesn’t leave us guessing about what true seeking and calling look like. He shows us: it means a real repentance. A real forsaking. A real returning.

Look again at verse 7 — the RSVP instructions continue:

Isaiah 55:7 ESV

7 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.

Here, we are instructed both to forsake our wicked ways and thoughts and to instead return to the Lord.

Forsaking means to abandon something completely — to renounce it, to turn your back on it with absolutely no intention of returning.

This is one of the realities of entering into this covenant: You are called to forsake — fully leave behind — both your sinful actions (your way) and your sinful thinking (your thoughts), even though you have lived with them for so long and by nature love the very things that God abhors.

And that applies to all of us: We know from just a few chapters ago that we all need to do this, for our ways are not the Lord’s ways: Isaiah 53:6 reminds us:

Isaiah 53:6 ESV

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way;

Our ways are not neutral. Our thoughts are not harmless.

Left to ourselves, every one of us would choose the path that leads to destruction, just as Proverbs 14:12 warns:

Proverbs 14:12 ESV

12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

God tells us in our passage today that you must forsake that path.
You must forsake your patterns, desires, ambitions, and dreams that run contrary to God’s will.

 

And then — not just abandoning your old ways — but returning, and running into the arms of the One who lovingly calls you:

Isaiah 55:7 ESV

7 let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

What a precious promise!

Return to the Lord — not to find wrath, but to find compassion!
Return to Him — not to receive scorn, but to receive abundant pardon!

This is the heart of God toward the repentant, returning sinner.
He delights to show mercy. He abounds in pardon.

 

Perhaps you are listening to this invitation today, and you think to yourself,

“There’s just no possible way that this is intended for me. I hear you saying that God will forgive and pardon me, but you don’t know how many things I have done wrong in my life!”

Beloved, God knows more of your sins than you do. And in reality, you’ve broken more of His law than you realize. Yet it is Jesus Himself who tells us that:

Mark 2:17 ESV

17 “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

If you are afraid to return to God today because you fear you have been too bad of a sinner, realize that sinners are exactly who He came to save!

1 Timothy 1:15 ESV

15 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…

Isaiah 55:7 doesn’t say He will “reluctantly forgive” you.
It says He will “abundantly pardon” you!

There is more mercy in Christ than there is sin in you.
There is more compassion in His heart than rebellion in yours.

 

So, again, how will you respond to God’s gracious invitation?

You have been personally invited to join the covenant. He told you how to RSVP, and then He goes even beyond that in the rest of the chapter by giving you a multitude of reasons why you should come! Beginning with:

3. A Word About the Host (vv. 8-11)

First, the Host assures us that: His Thoughts & Ways Are Higher (vv. 8–9)

Look with me at verses 8–9:

Isaiah 55:8–9 ESV

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

 

Why does the Lord say this here?

Because everything about this invitation seems unbelievable to natural human thinking!

When I consider my own life in light of God’s perfect Law, I see absolutely no way that I should be invited to this covenant. Just as we read from the Gospel Primer on Good Friday,

“12: Going my own way and living according to my own wisdom, I have broken countless times either the letter or the spirit of every one of God’s Ten Commandments.

13: Thinking myself to be wise, I have shown myself to be a fool; and because of my arrogance, God has every right to damn me to the everlasting experience of His terrifying wrath in the Lake of Fire.”

That is the punishment that I would expect God to think towards me. And He would be completely justified to do so,

But praise be to God that His thoughts and ways are not like ours!

  • His compassion exceeds our imagination!
  • His mercy outruns our transgressions!
  • His thoughts of grace toward sinners are higher than our fears of condemnation: as high as the heavens are above the earth, He says!

The Host of this covenant is again saying, “You might struggle to believe that I would abundantly pardon. You might doubt that I would welcome you. But My thoughts and ways are higher than yours!”

This is not the pettiness of mere man — this is the immeasurable mercy of the Lord! This mercy and grace is in His very nature:

Psalm 103:8–12 ESV

8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Thank you, Lord, for being so much greater and higher than we are!

So that’s the first assurance, but then…

Secondly, the Host assures us that: His Word Always Accomplishes His Purposes (vv. 10–11).

Isaiah 55:10 ESV

10 “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, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

Here, the Lord gives us a beautiful, yet simple picture:

When rain falls from the sky, it does not return to heaven without accomplishing its purpose. It nourishes the ground, causes seeds to sprout, and ultimately feeds the hungry. When God chooses to give rain, it never fails to accomplish what He sent it to do!

And just as surely, the Lord says:

Isaiah 55:11 ESV

11 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.

 

Every time the Word of God goes forth, it accomplishes exactly what He intends. Some will hear and be softened unto salvation – Some will hear and be hardened unto judgment.

But the Word will never fail!

Commentator Edward Young again puts it this way:

The Book of Isaiah: Volume 3, Chapters 40–66 Chapter Fifty-Five

The word originates in the mind of God, goes out from His mouth, and comes to man either in spoken or written form through the divinely appointed media of revelation … The reason why it unfailingly accomplishes the purpose for which it is sent forth is that it is divine. It is the very expression of the truth itself and hence cannot fail. It is “quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). The word is God’s; it belongs to Him, and for this reason fulfills its task.

Young, Edward. The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40–66. Vol. 3. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1972.

 

Praise God that He has given us such a sure, effectual, powerful Word – straight from His divine mind!

And if you would like to explore more about the greatness of God’s Word — its authority, its sufficiency, its inerrancy, and its infallibility — I would encourage you to go onto our church’s website and listen to the four-part sermon series we preached last October, where we walked carefully through these glorious truths from Scripture.

  1. The Bible’s Authority: https://www.harvestdesmoines.org/episode/the-bibles-authority-%e2%80%a2-10-06-24/
  2. The Bible’s Sufficiency: https://www.harvestdesmoines.org/episode/the-bibles-sufficiency-%e2%80%a2-10-13-24-2/
  3. The Bible’s Inerrancy: https://www.harvestdesmoines.org/episode/the-bibles-inerrancy-%e2%80%a2-10-20-24/
  4. The Bible’s Infallibility: https://www.harvestdesmoines.org/episode/the-bibles-infallibility-%e2%80%a2-10-27-24-2/

 

For today, though, as you read God’s authoritative, sufficient, inerrant, infallible word in Isaiah 55, the point is that you can trust the invitation because the One who sends it is utterly faithful!

You should come because the covenant Host is Himself truth, and therefore would – no, COULD not say that you are welcome unless it were true! If you would but come to him, the blessings of joining this covenant of peace will truly be yours – simply because God has said so!

 

Earlier, I mentioned that the second half of this invitation is essentially God giving you an abundance of reasons why you should come.

And we’ve just seen the first set of reasons:
You should come because of who the Host is:

  • His Thoughts & Ways Are Higher (vv. 8–9)
  • His Word Always Accomplishes His Purposes (vv. 10-11)

But the LORD doesn’t stop there.
He continues to draw us — not only by showing us who He is, but by showing us what He has prepared for those who come.

This brings us to our final portion of the invitation this morning:

4. What to Expect (vv. 12-13)

In the final verses of this chapter, God unveils the blessings that belong to all who respond to His call:

Isaiah 55:12 ESV

12 “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

First: Expect A Greater Exodus

The language here would have immediately reminded Isaiah’s first hearers of the Exodus – that mighty deliverance when God led His people out of Egypt. And it also would have stirred the hope of the exiles for another exodus — when God would deliver His people, and bring the Jewish exiles back from Babylon into the Promised Land.

But even beyond these mighty acts of God, Isaiah points to a still greater Exodus:

This greater Exodus is the one that Pastor Nick reminded us of in His sermon on Isaiah 52 about a month ago, and it is the Exodus which Jesus spoke of at His transfiguration:

Luke 9:29–31 ESV

29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. 30 And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure [Greek: exodus], which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

Jesus, our leader and commander, accomplished this grand Exodus by finishing His work on the cross, conquering sin and death,  and rising from the grave! And now He “leads us out of our bondage to sin into new life in Him!” (Pastor Nick on Isaiah 52). Just as Colossians 1:13 tells us:

Colossians 1:13 ESV

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

The greater “Moses”, the greater “David”, the Servant of the Lord, has come to lead the greater Exodus — rescuing His Bride from her spiritual bondage and bringing her safely home.

Just as we see in:

Revelation 18:4 ESV

4 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues;

Beloved, when you are invited to come to Christ, you are not simply invited to attend a covenant feast — you are called to come out of your captivity in Babylon and step into loving, covenantal, joyful freedom, freedom from both the bondage of sin as your slave-master, and freedom from the punishment your particular sins deserved!

This is the ultimate deliverance your soul thirsts for.

Secondly, Expect A Fruitful Transformation

Isaiah 55:13 ESV

13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Here we find a promise both for creation around us and for ourselves. There will be a glorious restoration for the world, as it too will be set free from the curse earned by Adam in Genesis 3:17-18.

Passages like Isaiah 55:13 teach us that creation will finally be set free to thrive and bear healthy fruit!

But there is also a very real sense that the imagery Isaiah uses here runs even deeper:

We, us fallen sinners, we were the thorns and briers — cursed by sin, unfit for the covenant, bearing nothing but death.

Consider the parallel imagery that Jesus uses in:

Luke 6:43–44 ESV

43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.

We see this imagery also used by the prophet Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 17:5–6 ESV

5 Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. 6 He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.

 

But – through the power of the gospel, through the saving work of Christ in His eternal covenant, the very covenant we are being invited to today, we can experience a fruitful transformation!

Jeremiah 17:7–8 ESV

7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

This is the promise being made here at the end of Isaiah 55: If you come to the covenant, you will be recreated into a healthy tree that never ceases to bear fruit!

Rather than being enslaved to your former wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts, Jesus will give you living water, the Holy Spirit, so that you can then bear the fruit of the Spirit:

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

What an amazing promise, and what great motivation to come to the Lord’s covenant today!

If you are thirsty today, come and be renewed! Come and experience a fruitful transformation!

 

It’s also important for us to notice that this fruitful transformation is not just a future hope — it is a present reality, a foretaste of deliverance, for all who are in Christ.

So if you are here and you DO believe in Christ, and you HAVE been transformed, then your reminder from this part of the invitation is to abide in the living water and be a healthy tree that bears good fruit!

Make full use of your new identity – you are a covenant member – a new creation planted by living water! He has spared no expense to nourish you with the Holy Spirit and adorn you with His righteousness (1 Peter 1:18-19). Keep abiding in Jesus and be known for bearing good fruit! Abide in Him daily, cling to Him, pray without ceasing, be fed by His Word, and continue being fruitful to the glory of God!

John 15:8 ESV

8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

So, for all who have come or all who will come, this is what to expect at the feast: not only joy and peace, but the deliverance of a greater Exodus; not only freedom from the curse, but a fruitful transformation that will forever testify to the grace of the One who called you.

 

Will you come?

The covenant is ready. Jesus stands ready to welcome you into His people. Come to Christ – and He will make a covenant of everlasting, eternal love with you! Come to Him today.

 

Let’s Pray.