The Transformational Word

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Transcript:

We’re going to be in Isaiah chapter 55 today. Isaiah chapter 55. I’ve been thinking all morning about some of the things that go on in our lives that will make us different, that will change us.

And what I mean by that is I’ve heard people say that 10 years from now you’ll be the same person you are today except for the friends you run around with and the books you read. And that’s probably pretty accurate. I look at who I am now and who I was 10 years ago, and I see 20 years ago, I can look back that far, 30 years ago, I can’t remember because I wasn’t born 30 years ago.

But you get the idea. We can look back over our lives and see how we’re different today from what we were before. And we can maybe even identify some of the things that have changed us.

But every day we go through experiences and things in our lives and relationships with people that change us. And maybe they change us a lot, maybe they change us a little, but things change us every day. They transform who we are.

I can tell you, other than my conversion to Christ, one of the things that has transformed my life most was having children. When Benjamin came along, everything changed. First of all, your priority list changes because it’s no longer about you.

It’s about this little person that God has entrusted to you, and now suddenly you’ve got to put their needs first. You’ve got to make sacrifices. And really, for most people who become parents, if they’re doing it the right way, and you know what, we’re not perfect in the way we do things. None of us are perfect.

But good parents are glad to make those sacrifices for their children. It changed the way I looked at a lot of things. You know, some of you men are going to lose respect for me, but that’s all right, because the women may gain some.

I cry a lot more since I’ve had children. Because, you know, just as an example, I used to watch movies with violence in it, and it didn’t bother me. And I remember the first time I watched a war movie, a shooting and killing movie, after Benjamin came along, and no longer was I chanting, USA, USA.

I was thinking, that was somebody’s child. Yeah, they were in the wrong, but that was somebody’s child. And it just made me think of my own children, and what if they were sent off to war?

It just totally warps your perspective. Changes your life where you see things differently. Sometimes the books we read change things for us.

When I was in college, well, you all know this by now, I’m pretty interested in politics. When I was in college, I started reading books. I mean, I’d read books before that, but one book in particular changed my whole perception of everything.

It was called The Death of the West. It changed my whole perception of politics. And usually when you’re in college, that makes you go to the left. I was weird, and it pushed me further to the right.

Aren’t you glad, Brother Shane? Just sort of exaggerated what was already there. But changed my entire perception of things, changed my mind on a lot of issues, even to this day.

And I could go through the list, you know, when it comes to politics, when it comes to how I view the world, when it comes to, you know, my attitudes on things. I can look back over the last 10 years, over the last 20 years, and see the changes that have taken place in my life just through everyday events and influences. We are influenced.

You better believe it. We are influenced by the things we read, by the people in our lives, by the music we listen to, by the movies we listen to. If you don’t believe me on that, there’s a lady I’ve talked to recently with a teenager who said, you know what, they started listening to the rap music and I’m not seeing good things coming from that.

Talking about the change in the attitude. Well, we are definitely influenced by the things that we listen to. Same goes for me.

Same goes for all of you. The things we watch, everything we take in in our lives, we are influenced by and we’re changed by to some extent. Now, my question for myself and for you this morning is that if we are open to these experiences that change our lives on a daily basis, that change who we are, why are we not open to being changed and being transformed by God?

And yet so many people, so many people hear, well, God wants this or God says that, and they are determined to reject those influences. They’re determined, I’m not going to do what God says. I’m not going to listen to what God says.

Why in the world would we want Hollywood or Nashville or Washington or any of those things to shape who we are when we can be transformed by God? And yet we’re willing to let other people lead us in who we’re going to be and who we want to become, but not listen to God. And God gives an invitation.

Many times through His Word, God gives an invitation. But in Isaiah 55, where we’re going to look today, in particular, God gives an invitation to come to Him, to listen to Him, and not just take in information, but to be completely transformed. To have who we are changed by what His Word teaches.

To have the direction, the course of our lives be completely changed by who he is and what his word teaches. God can completely change the direction of our lives for the better if we’re willing to let him. Now this is not have your best life now kind of thing and where I’m saying God is going to change your life to make it completely wonderful and completely easy.

Not what I’m talking about. But I heard a message on Wednesday from a pastor who came and spoke at our chapel who when he was 15 years old in an accident was shot in the head. and survive.

And then I heard more details because he’s given his testimony before where I’ve not heard it, where he had given more details. And after hearing the details, I’m thinking, how did he survive? There’s no explanation for it other than the grace of God.

But he explained, he explained that it was very unlikely, he thinks that he would have ever come to Christ, apart from God getting his attention through that event. And he looks at his family, he looks at the other people he grew up with in his area and the life they lived. And he said, you know, he grew up knowing no one who knew Jesus Christ. And he looks at where they are today and sees the difference between himself and this picture of where he would have been.

And it becomes very obvious that God can transform a life. God can change the entire direction of somebody’s life. Now that’s hard for me to understand.

That’s hard for me to understand. Not that I’m perfect, but I grew up in a Christian church going home. And even before I came to Christ, there was not a whole lot of option for getting too far out of control because I was scared of my parents and they weren’t going to stand for it.

And so I don’t know that the trajectory of my life would have led where some others have to drugs and violence and all these things. But I can definitely see the lives of good moral people without Christ, by human standards, good moral people without Christ who don’t have it all together, who don’t have the hope that you and I have in Christ. And I could see where my life would have taken a different path apart from his too. Now would I have gotten into drugs and all that?

Doubtfully. But my life even is different because of God and his word. And there may be some of you in here this morning who think the direction you’re on, the path you’re on is not working.

Or you see your family members You see your friends, your loved ones, your neighbors, and the path thereon is not working. I’m here to tell you, God can change all of that in an instant if we’re willing and open to be transformed by him. He says in Isaiah chapter 55, I hadn’t planned on starting at verse 1, but I kept reading Isaiah 55 and went back further and back further because it’s all just so good.

He says, Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, Come ye, buy and eat. Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. That word ho threw me.

We don’t say that much. But I watch pirate shows with Benjamin enough to know that they’re just pointing something out. You know, land ho.

I don’t know if they really did say that, but they say that on the kids pirate shows all the time. They’re pointing out, there it is. And so God through Isaiah is pointing out, hey, I’m talking to you.

There you are. There you are this morning. Everyone that thirsteth.

And we are all thirsty spiritually at times in our lives. Now, sometimes we notice the thirst more than others. But we’re all thirsty.

There’s something about humanity where we are wired that way. We are wired with a desire toward spiritual things. Now, I thought the Bible says there’s none that seek after God.

That’s true. See, we are wired for a relationship with God. We are wired to seek after spiritual things.

But in our spiritual blindness, in our depravity, we seek out everything but God to fill that spiritual void. And so we’re thirsty. We are thirsty for something that only cool, clear water can satisfy, and yet we seek to slake our thirst with sand in the desert.

Not realizing that God is the only one who can quench that thirst, that spiritual thirst. So he says, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come ye and buy and eat. And my notes say that in that day and age, if there was no water, they had to buy water.

And yeah, you had to pay for water. Now, here in Oklahoma, we have laws. You can go to a restaurant and you can get a free water.

Evidently, somebody died, and so now they can’t refuse you water. But there was a day and age where if you didn’t have the money, you don’t get the water. And so some people are left just to be thirsty because they can’t pay the price.

You know what? We read back to Isaiah 53, and somebody’s already paid the price for our spiritual water. And so now God invites everyone who thirsts to come and get the water.

And he says it’s there and it’s available and you that have no money come and buy and eat. Yea, come and buy wine and milk without money and without price. And that water indicates refreshment and the giving of life and the wine so often in the Bible is given as a symbol of joy and milk as a symbol of nourishment.

And God offers all of those things to us whether we can afford it, whether we can buy it or not. And you know what? We’re all thirsty.

We’re all hungry for the things of God, and we’re all broke, unable to purchase those things. And yet, it’s already been paid. It’s already been paid in full.

He says in verse 2, Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Guys, if there’s a better description of our day and age, I don’t know what it would be.

He says, why do you spend your money on that that is not going to fill you, is not going to strengthen you, is not going to satisfy you? And why do you spend your labor? Why are you working so hard for what doesn’t satisfy?

And do we not live in a materialist culture where everybody seems to be in the pursuit of stuff and trying to fill the emptiness in life with stuff and working so hard and spending all their money just trying to obtain things that are not going to satisfy? You know, we can get a new toy and it can make us happy for a little while and then eventually it’s junk. I bought an Apple computer a couple of months ago.

I was so excited. I’ve wanted one for years. I’ve been saving and wanted one for a long time.

It was so shiny and new and it just runs so fast and it does everything I need it to do. And I can work and I can get, you know, when I can figure out how to use it. Because you do have to figure out a new system if you’re used to PC.

but when I can figure out what I need to do I can get my work done so fast it’s just wonderful I was so excited to have it and that first day it was like Christmas morning I was so excited to have it the next day I was excited but it was a little less exciting after a couple weeks it’s like oh yeah there’s the Mac yeah it’s you know what I’m still thankful I have it but one of these days it’s going to take up space in a landfill and guys we can spend our lives in pursuit of that next high what’s going to make me happy now What new thing am I going to be excited about now? And eventually it’s all going to end up in a landfill. Or who am I going to be excited about next?

And we’re all going to be in the ground one day. And we spend our lives in pursuit of things. And we spend our lives working for things, thinking it’s going to fill that vacuum, that hole, that emptiness within us.

When God has said, why are you working so hard and spending all of this money, all of this treasure, all of this effort on things that are not what you need. And there’s nothing wrong with having things. But there’s something very wrong with being consumed by things and trying to use them to fill the emptiness in our lives that only God can fill.

And so he says, hearken diligently to me. Listen to me. And eat ye that which is good.

God’s already offered the things that we need. And let your soul delight itself in fatness. Think to Thanksgiving.

If you want to see what he’s talking about. Think to Thanksgiving. And how we have this big, wonderful meal. And afterwards, we are so full, we are just miserable.

But it’s a good miserable, isn’t it? I have stuffed myself with turkey and potatoes. And some of y’all go for the desserts.

I don’t usually go for the desserts. I go for more of the turkey and the potatoes. And we just eat until we can’t eat anymore.

And it’s a good kind of miserable. And we’re happy. We’re satisfied.

He says, let your soul delight itself in fatness. that feasting on God’s word is for our soul, what thanksgiving is for our body. We are stuffed to the brim, and we are overflowing, and yeah, we’ve had more than our share, and there’s still more to be had, but we’re stuffed and we’re satisfied.

He says, let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me here, and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Now he is speaking, I need to add here, He is speaking directly to the people of Israel.

Now this is not God speaking through Isaiah to us today. But there are things that apply for us. There are things in here that are for us, even if this wasn’t written to us.

So he says, listen, and come unto me here, and your soul shall live. And he promised the Jews that he had an everlasting covenant with them. He says, behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.

Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee, because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified thee. And part of this everlasting covenant that he made with Israel was that a Messiah would come. And as I’ve referred back already to Isaiah 53, the Messiah is spelled out so clearly there, and we can’t read it and not come to the conclusion, I believe, that it’s Jesus Christ. And he says, because of this, he would call a nation that thou knowest not, the Gentiles.

He would call the Gentiles through Christ, and nations that knew not thee shall run to thee. That the Gentiles, which include you and me, probably most people in this room, would run to the same salvation that was available to Israel. So he says in verse 6, Seek ye the Lord while he may be found.

Call ye upon him while he is near. You know what? God is not hiding from us.

There’s so much about God that is hidden that just because we don’t understand it, we can’t perceive or begin to comprehend all of the breadth and depth of God. And yet God himself has not hidden himself away. He’s revealed himself.

God wants us to know him. God wants us to love him. And so he’s made himself available.

He stands nearby and says, seek me while I may yet be found. Hearken to me. Listen to me.

Come to me. There’s all these invitations in this passage where God says, come to me. He says, seek ye the Lord while he may be found.

Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord. God is not just calling the good people of this world.

By God’s standards, there are no good people. And I say that putting myself right in there at the top of the list. It may look good outwardly, but I know me, and God knows me too. And there are no good people.

We’ve all fallen short of God’s holiness. So God is not just calling good men and women to himself. He’s calling the wicked.

He’s calling the unrighteous. And where he doesn’t owe forgiveness, he offers it anyway and says, let the wicked forsake his way. And the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to the Lord.

God says, come back to me anyway. Yes, I know what you’ve done. Yes, I know the person you are.

I know who you’ve become all through this time. But come back to me anyway. Forsake that.

Put it behind you and I’ll put it behind you as well and come back to me, he says. And he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. So he offers to those who are willing forsake the wicked ways.

Forsake the unrighteous thoughts and come to me. He says and I’ll have mercy and I’ll show he says abundantly I’ll pardon. He’ll pardon abundantly.

Not just, okay you’re in the clear. But everything you’ve ever done is in the clear. Everything you could ever do.

Isn’t it clear? He pardons abundantly. Why does he do that?

That does not make sense to us. That does not make sense to my mind because when I’m wronged, I want to hold him accountable. I want to see justice done.

Not for me, but for you. Yeah, if you do wrong to me, I want to see justice done. Now, if I do wrong, I want mercy.

Why would God offer this? Because it doesn’t make sense to us in our feeble human minds, but he says in verse 8, for my thoughts are not your thoughts. neither are your ways my ways saith the Lord.

No kidding. His thoughts are way different from ours. And his ways are very different.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. They’re so far above us that we cannot hope to comprehend every aspect of why God does the things why God does the things he does or does them the way he does. Yet we accept that he does.

A few years ago, I was in children’s church. It was just a few years ago, so I wasn’t in children’s church. I was teaching children’s church.

And trying to illustrate to them the idea that they couldn’t reach heaven or they couldn’t reach God’s forgiveness on their own and tortured them all through the children’s church service because they came in and immediately noticed that I had duct taped a Hershey bar to the ceiling. And the idea of this was I called some of the kids up and had them jump as high as they possibly could to try to get this Hershey bar. You know what?

It might as well have been taped to the moon because they couldn’t get it. It was so much higher than them. It was out of their grasp.

Now the idea was then to have somebody come in representing Jesus and lift them up to get it for them. But I thought of that as I was thinking about the fact that God’s ways are higher than our ways. You know what?

We might as well duct tape a Hershey bar to the moon and try to jump and get it. as grasps the thoughts of God. We can know things about Him.

We’re not going to understand all the inner workings of His mind. Why He does the things He does. He tells us some things.

But the more I understand about grace, the more I understand about His holiness, the more I understand my sin, I think I’ve told you before, the less I understand why He would choose to extend grace. Why He would choose to love me. Why He would choose to forgive and pardon.

It makes no sense to me. But it doesn’t have to. God has said this is the way it is.

He said my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts. So we just accept that it doesn’t make sense to us on this side of eternity. But I’m sure glad it’s there.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

It’s hard for us to imagine exactly what he’s talking about and what the people would have understood him to be saying here. It’s a little easier the last few years as we’ve gone through a little bit of a drought here, but it’s still kind of out of our grasp because we don’t live in a desert. Some of us may have been to a desert or through a desert.

Even our deserts in the United States, I think, don’t do justice to what he’s talking about here. So I’ve driven through the deserts of New Mexico and Arizona. I’ve been in northern Mexico.

It’s desert. But you’ll still see little scrub plants. You’ll still see cactus.

You’ll still see. . .

And yet I’ve seen pictures of parts of the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, even parts of southern Israel and the Negev. where there is nothing but sand and rocks. Talking about the moon a minute ago, it looks more like the surface of the moon than it does the earth in some places.

Absolutely dry, barren, dead. Nothing grows there because it’s so dry and it’s so hot. But he talks about his word being like a refreshing rain to a soul that’s a desert.

We go back again to talking about being thirsty. We are thirsty for God Mankind doesn’t realize what it’s thirsty for. We try to quench our thirst with everything but God.

But he says that his word is like the rain that comes down and the snow from heaven. And returns not the same way, but waters the earth and makes it bring forth and bud to give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. And I was thinking about this verse Friday.

And gardening. And some of you garden as well. Some of you garden better than I do and will understand this.

I can water. When I plant my vegetables, I can water, and things will happen. I can use the hose, and things will happen.

As a matter of fact, I tried to overwater. I’ve always heard you don’t overwater your plants. A lot of my stuff usually doesn’t come up.

So this last year, I tried to give twice as much water as what I thought everything needed, and surprise, more things came up. Okay, I’ve just been starving my plants of water for all this time. That’s why they don’t grow.

But I’ve noticed I can go out and water every day. I can go out and water twice a day with the hose. And stuff will grow.

It’ll grow fine. I can put miracle grow on it and it’ll sprout up. Cucumbers and watermelon almost take over the house.

But there’s something about rain. That it’ll rain even a little bit. And everything will green up and everything will start to bloom and sprout.

And yes, it might have bloomed and sprouted before with the hose water. But unless you’ve been out and gardened and seen it for yourself, there’s really no way to explain the difference. You can tell that the plants are just alive in a way they want before.

And I don’t know if it’s because it washes all the nitrogen out of the air, or maybe this. I don’t know how that works. I just know there’s something about heaven’s rain that is more refreshing than a sip from the hose ever could be.

And he talks about his word being like this rain or snow that falls from heaven and doesn’t go back. God doesn’t say, oh, let me make it un-rain. And I’m going to take that moisture back.

Now we do know about the water cycle and it evaporates, but that’s not what I’m talking about. It doesn’t un-rain. It rains and then that moisture is there to help the plants to grow.

And the snow, and it brings moisture. And it says so that it will cause things to bud and give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. His word is like a refreshing rain that brings all things to life.

He says, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I send it. And God’s word, when we read it, when we study it, when we teach it to other people, we don’t know the long-term effects that it will have.

But God promises that it will not return to him void. There are times I’ve been in a difficult circumstance and a verse comes to mind that I might not have looked at in ten years or thought about in ten years, but where did that come from? It is exactly what I needed then.

Well, little do I know that maybe 10 years ago, reading through something, God stopped it away back in my mind for when I would need it. It took 10 years to bring forth fruit, but it eventually did. And we teach the scriptures to our children, or we should.

And then they get to be 12, 13. I’m not there yet, but I know it’s coming. And that pesky free will starts to rear.

You know what? Three. Three is a really rough age for that free will.

but it starts to rear its head and you think did they hear anything that I’ve taught and yet God tells us his word doesn’t return to him void and if the word is there the word is there it stays there and eventually it’s going to have some kind of effect and it will accomplish what he pleases and it will prosper not just do okay it’ll prosper in the thing he sent it to do and I don’t know if I’ve told you if I’ve told this church this story or not I tell it all the time so I may have but several years ago I asked Brother Hodges to come speak to a Bible study group that I was leading at the high school, when I was in high school. And I thought he was going to come in and kind of pound in the pulpit sort of thing, not that we had a pulpit, but get everybody fired up and let’s go get them.

And he came in, much to my disappointment, and talked about the verse that said, As much as lies within you, live peaceably with all men. What? I was looking for some red meat here, Brother Hodges.

Give us that. And yet that verse, please hear me on this. I mean this in a respectful way.

I’m not trying to speak ill of God’s word. But that verse got into my head like an itch in my brain that I can’t scratch. And I hear that verse in my head all the time.

At least once a day, I think of that verse. For over ten years now. Because that was something I was seriously struggling with at that point.

I was always itching for the fight. Had to be right. Had to win.

even if it was with other brothers and sisters in Christ. I had to win. That’s just the way it was going to be. And that verse just got in my brain.

And you know what? It’s worn me down over the last decade. I still hear it every day.

But God’s word, one part of it in particular. Now, there are other passages. But one part of it in particular got into my brain and is accomplishing what God put it there to do.

Because I’ll get ready to just tell somebody about it. And I hear, as much as lies within you, live peaceably with all men. Really, God?

Him? Live peaceably with Him? Yes.

That’s what it says. There was no exception. As much as it’s up to you.

Okay. And God’s word, especially if we’re open and receptive to it, the way the dry ground receives the rain. God’s word does not come back void, and it accomplishes what He put it there to accomplish.

And I know that in that particular instance, I can look back now, even Brother Hodges is gone, and God used him to plant that passage in my life for the purpose of it bearing fruit and not returning void. And I believe that every time we go to God’s Word, we may not close the Bible and go, well, that was a transformational experience. My life is totally different because of what I’ve read today.

There may be some days where we close it and go, well, that was interesting. It’s in there. We’ve heard it.

And God stores it away for when it’s needed, for when that particular passage is needed. And it won’t return void. And so many days we go without looking to God’s word, without reading God’s word, without getting into God’s word and meditating and ruminating on it and not realizing.

I think sometimes we get so busy in our lives we don’t realize God has given us a regular standing invitation. Come to me. Listen to me.

Be open and receptive to this rain that I want to pour in your life that I want to refresh you with, and that it’s going to change you. We have an open, standing invitation with the creator of the universe to come and hear him every day and to be changed, and to be changed for the better. For you shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace.

The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing. I’d like to see that. I don’t know exactly what he means by that picture there.

Do I think the mountains are going to grow hands and start physically clapping? I mean, they could. God can do what he wants to do.

It’s probably not what he means. But that’s a picture to me of great joy where it even sounds like the mountains and hills are clapping, such as the joy of God’s people when they’re refreshed by God’s word. The mountains and hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Okay, I guess it was the trees that will grow hands. the hills will just be alive with the sound of music maybe that’s what that was about I doubt it but such will be the joy of God’s people that it’s almost as if nature itself joins in and did he not say that if these shall hold their peace even the stones will cry out in praise and he says that this will take place the mountains and hills will break forth into singing and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree and it shall be to the Lord for a name for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. And so he promises good things to his people.

And some of these pro