Church: Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia | Text: Isaiah 55 | Date: March 23, 2025 | Speaker: Fred Zaspel

Isaiah chapter 55. In our evening series, we have been looking through the messianic prophecy. For some time, we have been in the prophecy of Isaiah, working our way through the messianic prophecies there. We most recently have looked through the servant songs, as they are called: Isaiah 42, 49, 50, and 53. And now we come to Isaiah 55, the great invitation.

Isaiah 55:

“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. 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. 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. Behold, I make him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that you did not know 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; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 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.

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, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and 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.”

Let’s look to the Lord in prayer. Our Father, what a wonderful passage of Scripture this is. We ask that You will help us to see our Savior in it. We pray that You’ll direct our attention and our faith to Him as a result of looking through this and seeing Your message to us. What a marvelous invitation. Oh, Lord, we pray that each of us will hear it well. We ask in Jesus’ name, amen.

When I’ve taught an eschatology course at the seminary, I have spent an hour or more looking into how to interpret the Old Testament prophets. You guys have seen enough of that on Sunday evenings to have caught a glimpse of that—that the prophets regularly, typically, in their prophecies that they give, are addressing an issue at immediate attention.

In the earlier chapters of Isaiah, it’s the threat of Assyria. The later chapters of Isaiah, it’s the announced captivity of Babylon, the Babylonian armies coming to conquer Israel. And in both of those, we find Isaiah addressing the problem, promising some deliverance that will come, but always in all of it, there’s on the horizon a greater deliverance that will come. A greater deliverance from exile, or whatever the current issue is, all of it looks forward.

So in the early chapters of Isaiah, we have many prophecies concerning the Davidic King who will come. He’s addressing the problem of Assyria and the armies that will come against Jerusalem. He promises a deliverance that will finally come; although Assyria leaves devastation all around the nation, Jerusalem itself will be spared. But then again, there’s this announcement that the Davidic son will come: He’ll be virgin born, He’ll take the government on His shoulders, He’ll execute justice in the earth. We find that all through those early chapters, that first 39 chapters or so of Isaiah.

And then we have the captivity of Judah announced in Isaiah 39, and that section of the book climaxes there. And then beginning in chapter 40, we have what’s called the Book of Comfort, where He announces deliverance from that exile and that captivity in Babylon. “I’ll bring you back, and I’ll bring you whole.” But again, on the horizon is a greater deliverance from a greater kind of exile that the people have experienced, and that is the exile of their sin. And so again, we have God’s deliverer come.

We have the near view of things that are happening now and what’s going on, but all of that is prospective of a greater deliverance that will come. In the latter portions of Isaiah, it is the Lord’s servant. In the earlier chapters, it’s the Davidic son, the messianic king who is in view. We come to the latter chapters in Isaiah, and it is the servant of the Lord who will come and perform the will of the Lord, bringing forth justice in the earth. And then it climaxes, as you remember, in Isaiah 53, the fourth of the servant songs, where He offers Himself as a guilt offering for sinners and establishes peace with God through the work that He does for them.

So keep that in mind as we go through here. We have these chapters addressing the needs of the people prospectively. They’re in Babylon, where they will be in exile, and God promises deliverance and He’s going to bring them home. But all of that is prospective of a greater exile because of their sin, and God will bring them back from that as well.

Well, all of that, as I say, climaxed in Isaiah 53 (Isaiah 52, verse 13, through the end of chapter 53), where we have the servant accomplishing this work of salvation, giving Himself on behalf of the people, offering Himself to God, making satisfaction for sin in their place so that they would be saved.

Now we come to Isaiah 54 and 55, and here we have a great invitation that goes out on the basis of the servant’s work in Isaiah 53. So in Isaiah 42, the servant is announced. In Isaiah 49 and Isaiah 50, we find different aspects of His work that will be highlighted. In Isaiah 53, it comes to its climax where He offers Himself for sinners and in their place to rescue them from their sin. And now on the ground of what He has done, as outlined in Isaiah 53, in Isaiah 54 now, the invitation goes out to Israel.

If you’d like to look back at that, this is the invitation to Israel, God’s wife, who was deserted for a time but now will be brought back. Deserted because of her sin, but now she’ll be brought back. Isaiah 54, verse 1: “Sing, O barren one who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married, says the Lord. Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitation be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities.” Verse seven: “For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer.”

Well, that invitation then goes out to Israel in Isaiah chapter 54. When we come to Isaiah 55 now, that invitation goes out to the nations. Now, before we look into this, remember some hints of this—or not hints, but brief announcements of it—that we’ve seen earlier in Isaiah’s prophecy. In Isaiah 42, with the introduction of the servant, we are told that He will bring justice to the nations. We saw in Isaiah 49, verse 6, where the Lord says, “that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

So again, the deliverance that God has promised Israel as they look toward going into exile, the deliverance itself is prospective. The exile is illustrative of a greater sin and a greater exile. And the return is prospective of a greater deliverance that God will bring on the ground of what the servant has done. And this will go out to the nations, not just Israel. And then we have that in Isaiah 55 now as well.

For an example, if you’d like to look at verse 4: “I’ve made him,” that is the servant, that’s who’s in view, he’s not named here, but “I’ve made him,” that is David, David’s son, “a witness to the peoples.” And when you see that expression, “the peoples,” in plural, it’s a reference to the nations, to the Gentiles, beyond Israel. He made Him a witness to the peoples. So God’s deliverance will come through His servant beyond Israel to the nations. And that is the subject then of Isaiah 55.

The Great Invitation

Verses 1 to 3 then, we have the great invitation. Graphic, poetic imagery here. “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. 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. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live.”

Now, particularly in the first couple of verses here, when He says, “come to the waters,” “come and buy milk and wine,” and then in verse two, “bread,” this rich supply of food that He mentions—all of this is poetic imagery of the abundance of salvation that God has provided for His people. This is more than just the bare necessities, but it’s a rich supply of salvation that He brings.

And what’s emphasized here in these opening verses is the freeness of the offer. Look at again, verse one: “he who has no money, come, buy and eat.” And then verse 2, He pleads for His hearers to take Him up on the offer. “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.” So here He emphasizes the freeness of the offer. He pleads with them and even reasons with them. Why do you spend your labors and your money for what can’t ultimately satisfy?

Verse three presses the urgency of taking up the offer. “Incline your ear, come to me and hear so that your soul may live.” All of this is wonderful imagery. You cannot buy salvation with money or with your own works of any kind, but He’s pressing the freeness of the offer. He pictures God here as a vendor on the streets, eager not to sell, but to give away this rich supply of food that He has. And He begs people, “Come and take it.” He reasons with them. “Why do you spend your money elsewhere when I can give you what your soul needs? Come and take it, and take it freely.”

All of this, of course, presupposes the sinfulness and the helplessness of the people. Nothing they can do through any of their efforts can bring the true deliverance that they need. The invitation stands: no one, no one is so poor that he cannot buy salvation here. Come and buy without money and without price.

And what’s promised to those who hear and to those who come, we read in verse three, is eternal life: “that your soul may live.” Again, this presupposes their sin, their judgment, death in the ultimate sense. Because of their sin, Israel has not only been carried off into exile into Babylon, but because of our sin, we are in exile away from God. And now the servant has come. He’s done the work that saves, and the invitation goes out. Here is a rich banquet of food, a richness of salvation, more than you can imagine. And it is offered you for free.

It’s offered for free precisely because it has been purchased already by someone else. The Lord’s servant has come. He has done the work. And this is that marvelous biblical theme of salvation by grace alone. God does the saving work. He does it through His servant on the ground of what His servant has done. The invitation goes out: “Come and take salvation freely.” There’s nothing you could ever do to achieve it. You can’t buy it. You can’t earn it. Come and take it. Take it for free.

There are echoes of these first three verses in the New Testament in several places. One would be John chapter 4, the woman at the well. Jesus asks her for water, and she wonders why this Jew would be asking this Samaritan for help. And Jesus turns the conversation: “If you knew who was talking to you and asking you for a drink, you would ask a drink from him, and he would give you living water.” There’s an echo of this in John chapter six, in Jesus’ great bread of life discourse: “I am the bread of life.” It’s echoed again in John chapter 7, where Jesus stands at the great feast and says, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.”

God’s servant has come, He’s done the work, and salvation is offered for free for coming to Him for it. And there we find what we’ve seen so many times—that marvelous irony—and that is: salvation from God is not for those who think that they can contribute to it or earn it in every way. And in fact, if you come to God on those terms, pleading what you have done and what you can do to buy this, you can’t have it. What you must do is simply come and acknowledge your ill-desert and your helplessness and your poverty and just take for free what Jesus has done.

There was an old revival hymn. I’ve never heard it sung—I don’t know the melody to it—but I’ve seen the words several times in print. It marvelously expresses this thought exactly: “Cast your deadly doing down, down at Jesus’ feet.” All of your efforts, renounce them. Come simply to Jesus and take. Or as we sing here often: “Let not conscience make you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream; all the fitness He requires is to feel your need of Him. Come you weary, heavy laden, lost and ruined by the fall; if you tarry till you’re better, you’ll never come at all.”

Well, that’s the great invitation. For free, come and take what the servant has accomplished. Last part of verse three, He spells out the blessings in more concrete terms: “I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.” Here we have an expression that we have found often in the Prophets and also in the Psalms where these two terms are brought together: God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. Well, here He speaks of it with specific reference to His promise to David.

The background here is 2 Samuel chapter 7. God promised David that he would have a son, a descendant who would come and he would rule over the nations. He would be the king, God’s great deliverer. That’s the son that’s in view in Isaiah 7, who will be virgin born. It’s the son who is in view in Isaiah 9—government will be on His shoulders. He’s in view in Isaiah 11—He’s the shoot from Jesse. And now He says, “I’ll make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.” My promise to David was a steadfast one. I’ve promised him My affection, I’ve promised him My loyalty, and it’s sure.

So here, by the way, Isaiah brings together two major strands of his prophecy. And he brings them together: on the one hand, there’s the strand of prophecies, primarily in the earlier part of his book (chapters 1 to 39), the prophecy and the promise of the great Davidic son who will come—the royal son who will come to be king and deliver. And then, Isaiah 42 and following, we have the emphasis on the Lord’s servant who will come. And here he brings those together. The Lord’s servant is, in fact, that great Davidic son who will come and through His redemptive work, He will establish His reign. And that king, that Davidic son, that messianic king, the servant of the Lord has come and He’s offered Himself. Chapter 53, He’s offered Himself as a guilt offering for sinners, made satisfaction to God for sin. And now God says, “Hear me, listen up. Turn from your sin and be saved freely because of what this servant has done.”

And then verse four, the king and his kingdom are described as universal. “Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. You shall call a nation that you do not know and a nation that did not know you shall run to you.” That is men and women from all over the world. It’s a prospect here that men and women from all the world will participate in this rich salvation that God offers on the ground of what the servant has done. Israel, God will bring deliverance. Oh, but I have news: it’s not just for you. This is for the nations.

Verse 5, all of this: “because of the Lord your God and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.” That is to say, God’s presence among His people. Here He takes the long view of things. God’s presence among His people will be so magnanimous, so magnetic, if you will, that all the national biases and prejudices will be overthrown. Men and women the world over will come to worship this Israel’s God. We saw that, by the way, back in Isaiah 49, verse 7: “Kings shall arise and see, princes also, and they’ll prostrate themselves because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.” We saw a wonderful glimpse of this, you may remember, some time back in Isaiah 2. We have the same in Micah chapter 4. We saw it there as well, where we have this marvelous prophecy of the end time when finally the king is here and in His presence the nations of the world clamor together to come in here and to learn from Him and to go back to their places and learn and know how to live and to live at peace with one another.

Isaiah here is thinking big picture in view of what the servant will accomplish. Not only redemption from sin, but redemption realized not simply on an individual level, but in its global ramifications. A new heaven and a new earth brought to pass through this king, this servant who has come. And all this is offered for free. Anyone who thirsts, come, buy. Anybody who’s hungry, come and eat. There’s a richness of salvation, a richness of a banquet of food to come without money and without price.

Attending Exhortations

So verses 1 to 3 give us somewhat of an exhortation: listen, give ear, come. And now we have attending exhortations in verses six and seven. Explain what does that mean? To come, to listen, to hear—what does that mean?

Verse six: it means “seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.” Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion on him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

That is, seek the Lord first. Seek the Lord. And the idea here is not that the Lord is somewhere in hiding, but it’s look to Him on His terms. And He offers this. And there’s some urgency attached to it. Seek the Lord while He may be found. This offer is not forever. There’s an urgency to it. Come to Him now while the invitation is extended.

And then call upon Him. That is, acknowledge Him and appeal to Him on the ground of what He has offered. And again, the urgency of it: call upon Him while He is near. And again, stresses the urgency. Call on Him. Plead for His help. Acknowledge that you’re in need of His mercy, but come now while the invitation is extended.

And then He is more explicit: Forsake. Forsake your sins. Return to the Lord. These are the two sides of faith and repentance. Faith and repentance are the two sides of the same coin. We turn away from our sin—repentance—and turning away from our sin, we turn to the Lord in faith and trust, looking to Him to save. Forsake his way. Let the unrighteous man forsake his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord in submission and in trust.

The last part of verse seven, what is offered? “That he may have compassion on him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Compassion. What is offered is compassion and pardon. Divine compassion, divine mercy, His unmerited love, His ill-deserved favor—He offers that. And He offers pardon, but you have to love the expression. Pardon would have been enough. That’s not what He says. He will “abundantly pardon.” For all of the sins, here’s abundant provision. Here’s a God who is not stingy with His forgiveness, but His compassion is such that He lavishes out of this great banquet of food—lavishes more than all we will ever need. Release from our sin, release from the consequences of our sin.

This is an amazing offer to those who have turned their back on God and defied His law. For Israel, as a result of it, sent off into exile; for all of us sent out into the exile of our alienation from God. God says, “If you will return to me now, forsake your unbelief, renounce your sin, then I will not hold you accountable for all of your sins against me.”

Now, how can God do that? How can this just, holy God look at sinners and say, sincerely, “If you come, I’ll pardon you”? Doesn’t His righteousness demand punishment for sin? And that’s the whole point of Isaiah 53. The servant has come and has stood in this place of His people and has borne the penalty of their sin in their place. And now on the ground of the salvation that He has purchased, this invitation goes out: come, you can have it all. Richly, fully, and freely.

This is a Reformed Baptist church. We don’t apologize for being Calvinists here. We believe that God is sovereign in salvation. We believe He chooses those whom He will save. We believe that all those whom He has chosen will be saved. And we believe that apart from electing grace, no one is saved, and all of that. There is a brand—there’s a brand of Calvinists. Historically, the nicer term is they’re “high Calvinists.” More pejoratively, we call them “hyper-Calvinists.” And one of their tenets is that we cannot offer salvation freely to the non-elect. That’s very important to them. To offer salvation to the non-elect would be insincere. They won’t come. How can you offer salvation like that? And then they’ll argue it would be beneath God to offer Himself to sinners who will not come.

You know what? They are exactly right. It is beneath God to do that. The point is He does it. And don’t you see? That is one aspect of His glory: that He stoops to sinners who have rebelled against Him and offers Himself. “Take this freely. You may have it for the taking.”

Now we might ask at that point, why would God do that? Why would God stoop to something like that? Why not just give sinners what they deserve and be done with it? And why not just pardon them outright for that matter? And why go to such cost? God hasn’t sidestepped His justice to save sinners. He’s met all the demands of justice through the work of His servant. Why go to all of that?

Verses 8 and 9 explain. Notice the explanatory conjunction at the beginning of verse eight, “for”—He’s explaining Himself here—”because 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.”

What He emphasizes here is that there’s a vast difference between us and God. His thoughts are immeasurably higher than ours. And here God says to you, “You don’t think like I do. You would never have dreamed of showing this kind of compassion to rebel sinners. If this were to you, you’d exact the punishment as it was deserved, be done with it all.” But He says, “That’s just not the kind of God I am.” The whole reason I’ve sent my servant, the whole reason God has sent Him is that He’s just this God with an overflowing of compassion on ill-deserving sinners.

A Word Of Assurance

Verses 10 and 11, He gives us a word of assurance. “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 eating bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, and it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I have sent it.”

Have no doubt about it. The will of the Lord will prosper in the hands of the servant. That’s what we saw in Isaiah 53, and here He has said it. I have offered this invitation, and sinners will come, and I will give free and full pardon.

A Word Of Further Encouragement

Verses 12 and 13 then give us a word of further encouragement. Before we get there, you might want to recall He’s promising here the joy of restoration. We’ll see that in just a moment, but keep in mind what we’ve seen now in Isaiah. Isaiah 39 climaxed the end of that first section of this prophecy with the announcement that the exile would come because of Israel’s disobedience. Isaiah 40 to 66 then, we have this Book of Comfort where He promises deliverance. Isaiah 42 and following, that focuses on the work of the Lord’s servant. Remember that expanding purview that the work of the servant has. This is for Israel—this is not just for Israel. This is for the nations.

And then we come to Isaiah 54, and we have this invitation to Israel. And then Isaiah 55 now, the invitation to the nations to return to the Lord on the ground of the servant’s work. Isaiah 55 here, verses one to seven, is this invitation to come to Him for pardon and release from sin. Verses eight and following explain and assure us. And now verses 12 and 13, He takes the big picture, the long view of what awaits them if they will accept this invitation and come.

“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. 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.”

This is new creation terminology. We’ve seen this in the Psalms, we’ve seen it in other of the prophets—all of creation caught up in the fall of man and sin, the consequences of it. And when God comes to redeem, the created order itself claps and cheers because of what God is doing. That is to say, this restoration from exile will be grander than you ever imagined. Worldwide ramifications. Creation itself will rejoice for the restoration that God brings. He will pick up on this theme in Isaiah 65 and 66 where he expands at some length on the nature of that world when He calls it the new heaven and the new earth because of the work of God’s servant.

This is just a marvelous portrait of God. It’s difficult to imagine how God could more graphically portray His willingness to receive sinners and to save them. Verse one, He begs with us: “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.” Verse two, He reasons with them: “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, eat what is good and delight yourselves with rich food.” And then in verse three, He pleads with them: “Incline your ear, come to me; hear that your soul may live.” Verse seven, He promises that He’ll have compassion and pardon in abundance. And then verse eight, He assures us that He really is, has this kind of compassion, unlike anything human. It’s beyond any of us. And now in verses 12 and following, He heightens the offer. This is part of something bigger than you can imagine: the joy and the peace of a new created order. What God has accomplished for His people. No more curse forever.

And all this for undeserving sinners. Just come and I’ll give you this without any cost, without any money. Just turn from your sin and I’ll have compassion on you, and I will abundantly pardon. You’ll have more joy than you ever thought imagined. You would think, you would think that an offer like this is just too good to refuse. You would think with an offer like this, sinners would just come running in droves. It’s free. You can have it. The work’s been done. You don’t have to contribute anything. Just come.

It surely says something about the perverseness of the human heart that we actually prefer our sin. It says something about human blindness. We hear an invitation like this and we can’t believe it. We assume still that we must do something. “No, it can’t be that free. We must do something.” Here’s the offer and here are the terms: God will have you. Just turn from your sin. Turn from all of your self-efforts. Receive as a poor, helpless sinner the grace that He offers. And acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as the only savior of sinners, who can do for sinners what only He can do.

Colin Smith is a pastor in the Chicago area. And he, in one of his books, makes reference to this passage. He sets up an imaginary situation. He says:

Selling is usually about the trader arguing the customer up to his price. But here we have Christ arguing the price down. It’s like an auction in reverse, where everything’s turned on its head because Christ has chosen to sell to the lowest bidder.

So come with me in your imagination to this auction sale. Christ is standing in the stall and he says, “I’m pleased to be able to offer total forgiveness and reconciliation with God. The offer includes the ultimate value of eternal life, and it is available today to the lowest bidder.”

A man in a pinstripe suit steps forward with the first bid. “I’ve led a good life and I’ve run an honest business,” he says. “I’ve been faithful to my wife. I’ve been a good father to my children. I’ve served on the boards of three charitable organizations. I would like to offer these good works.” A murmur rises from the rest of the bidders. That’s a pretty impressive offer. “It’s with the man in the pinstripe suit,” says the auctioneer.

And then a lady in a blue coat lifts her hand. “I haven’t done as much as the man in the pinstripe suit,” she says, “but I’ve attended church faithfully, and I think that I’ve become a spiritual person.” “It’s with the lady in the blue coat,” says the seller. “Can anyone make me a lower offer?”

A girl in blue jeans raises her hand and says, “I haven’t attended church like the lady in the blue coat, but I am sincere and wanting to do what is right, and I’ve tried to live a life that is pleasing to God.” “Well,” says the auctioneer, “that’s not very much, but it’s going to the lowest bidder, so you have it. Am I hearing any other bids?”

A man in a red sweater with a bit of a red face gets up slowly. “I’ve not lived up to my own expectations,” he says. “I’ve let people down and I’ve done some terrible things, but at least I have been sorry. I didn’t intend to do what I did, so let me offer the fact that I’m truly repentant.” “Well,” says the seller, “this really isn’t much, but it’s going to the lowest bidder. So your meager bid has it right now. Is anyone going to make me a lower bid?”

This is not a battle of pride. It’s a battle of blushes. Many people have opted out of the bidding, not because the cost is too high, but because the offer is embarrassingly low. Most people are just watching to see if anyone dared to offer less than the man in the red sweater. How could anyone offer so little to God?

Finally, someone steps forward and says, “I don’t have anything to offer. My repentance isn’t what it should be. My faith isn’t what it should be. My works aren’t what they should be. Nothing is as it should be. I have nothing to offer.” The auctioneer brings down the hammer and says, “It’s yours, it’s yours.”

God’s servant, the Lord Jesus Christ, has done for sinners all that God requires. And God now offers salvation freely and fully on those terms. Children, young people, some of you adults who’ve not yet come to Christ: if you have not taken God up on His offer—free and full salvation—why in the world not? Is your sin really more valuable to you than eternal joy? Would you really prefer eternal punishment over divine compassion and full pardon? What is it that holds you back? The offer could not be more simple. You know you’re a sinner. You know you’re deserving of judgment. You know that day of judgment will come. You know that Jesus Christ is the only savior of sinners, and you know the freeness of the offer. Just come and take from Jesus what He alone can give.

Children, don’t think for a minute that because your daddy and mommy are safe in Christ that renders you safe; you must also acknowledge your sin and turn to Jesus and look to Him to save. And so, here one more time, verse six, God’s offer: “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Amen.