While He is Near

From the passage Mary already read for us, Isaiah 55, 6-9. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near.

Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that he may have mercy on him. And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says 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. If there is any passage of Scripture that embodies the gospel of the kingdom in a nutshell, it's this.

If there's any passage of Scripture that illuminates the ministry of Jesus on this earth, not only twenty centuries ago, but here in this place today, it's this passage in Isaiah 55. It's an invitation to come through an open door into God's glory. And it's a warning that that door will also close.

Mark chapter 1, verse 14. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the good news of God, and saying, the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe the good news. The time is fulfilled. The door to the kingdom is open.

Anybody who will can come in and partake of this heavenly feast. Don't let your sins hold you back. God will forgive.

God will give you a new heart. God will give you a fresh beginning. God will fill you with new life.

But remember, this door, which is now open, will soon close. And when it closes, it will not open again. Seek the Lord while you may be found.

Call upon him while he is near. This was Jesus' consistent message to Israel. For three and a half years, he traveled up and down the land with a welcome, warm invitation.

Come on in. He healed their sick bodies, restored their tormented minds, fed their hungry souls. And then as he neared the end of his journey to the cross, Jesus stood on a hill above Jerusalem, looked down upon it, and wept.

And said, from Luke 19.42, And remember as I read these words that Jesus isn't angry, he's heartbroken. He's weeping when he says these words. Would, looking at Jerusalem, Would that even today you knew the things that make for your peace, but now they're hid from your eyes.

For the day shall come upon you when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you and hem you in on every side and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you because you did not know the time of your visitation. This was fulfilled in the year 70 AD.

And when Jesus said these words, he's crying out, he's heartbroken. Because you didn't know the time of your visitation, he wept. Over and over again, Jesus gives this twofold message.

One, the door of the kingdom is open. Everybody can come in. Everybody gets a new start.

Everybody's welcome. And this invitation is one made in unspeakable love. It's his own blood which pays the price of opening the door.

It's his offered life which pays the price of this new beginning he gives us. But always with the invitation is the warning that time is short. If you're going to come in, you've got to do it now.

Excuse me. And so, the foolish virgins who go out to buy oil come back and can't get in the wedding feast. And the invited guests who are too busy with their own affairs, distracted by their own busyness, will never taste of the value.

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 mercy on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says 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.

Now we often think as a word addressed to people who are still outside the kingdom. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord for he will have mercy on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon.

But this is a word also addressed to those who are inside the kingdom, who have come through the door up to a point, but there is more coming through the door still to be done. This was addressed to Israel This is a word to the body of Christ on earth. This is a word to us.

It speaks to us of a door opening to things far more wonderful than we have yet seen. It speaks to us of a walk with God much, much closer than we have yet. It promises us a vision of God more clear and more bright than we have ever imagined.

It assures us that if we come through this door we will receive life from God, peace from God, power to do his will. It promises us that as we do this God's word will materialize in our daily living. God's word will move.

God will accomplish his redemptive work through us and everything we touch will either spring to life or in some sense wither under God's judgment. My thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways, says 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 return not thither 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 forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty but it shall accomplish that which I purposed and prosper in the thing for which I set it for you shall go forth in joy and be let out in peace.

The mountains and the hills before you will break forth into singing and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way, the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that he may have mercy on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon him. Jesus came into this world, died on the cross, rose from the dead, and stands in our midst now in the power of the Holy Spirit in order to enable us to take those five steps.

All the time, every day. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Meaning, he may be found, he can be found.

You don't have to scour the earth trying to find God. You can find him. Beginning where you are, beginning your present circumstances, in your present situation, to seek God.

Not just the blessings, not just the answered prayers, not just the healings, but God himself. Far more glorious than any blessing he can give us. He is the blessing.

Seek him. Seek the Lord. Wherever Jesus is, God can be found.

Wherever Jesus speaks, God can be found. You can find him here today. You can find him.

And when you find him, you don't just put him in your pocket, or your pocketbook, or in your hand, and say, now I've got him. You know, a lot of times we think, we've got him. I've got it now, I'm saved, it's all right.

You keep on finding him. You keep on seeking him. On and on and on.

And the more you do, the more you get to know him. More and more. Call upon him while he is near.

Meaning he is near. You don't have to wonder whether God can hear your cry. Cry out to him.

Call on his name and he will answer you by manifesting his presence to you afresh today. Many of us are going on the memory of past encounters with God. Thank God for those.

Blessings that God has given us. But we need fresh bread. We need a fresh word from God.

And we can have that because God is near in the presence of his Son among us now. We call out to him and he answers. And we keep calling on him and continue to call on him.

We never stop. The more we call on him, the better we get. Let the wicked forsake his way.

Now perhaps we never think of ourselves as wicked or our way as wicked. But... Larry's laughter confirmed what I'm trying to say. If the way we're walking is in any way not moving toward God but somehow away from him not ruled by his love or by his justice or by his holiness or by his righteousness if the direction our life is taking is somehow a subtle drift away from God even if it's quite respectable and very religious and everybody thinks we're doing great if it's drifting away from God then that way needs to be forsaken because consider if I'm walking in despair if I'm walking in self-righteous arrogance if I'm dwelling on past hurts if I'm nursing a resentment if I'm in bondage to my possessions if I'm in love with my money what direction is my daily life taking? What am I going after in my daily routine? What am I pursuing? Oh God, if the life that I'm living the direction of my walk is in any way moving away from you open my eyes that I may see it as wicked and forsaken even if everybody in the world thinks it's marvelous not my way, Lord, your way and the unrighteous man if our thoughts are distracted and cluttered with Babylon whether it's right-wing Babylon or left-wing Babylon we got people who are pro-Sandinista and anti-Sandinista pro-contra, anti-contra but the issue really is if I'm still hungry for power if I identify always with a struggle for power and I'm not seeing the kingdom clearly then we work for justice for the best that's in this world but if we get caught up in this and we don't see the kingdom now we're into the Babylonian crusade then our thoughts are taking us away from God if our thoughts are permeated with fear bitterness escape fantasies revenge fantasies then they're taking us away from God see, if I nurse these thoughts which distract me from God the price that I pay is lost peace lost fellowship with God they're not worth it forsake them even if your best Christian ideal tells you this is the way you go listen to what Jesus is saying and let him return to the Lord that he may have mercy unto our God for he will abundantly pardon this is what Jesus means when he talks about repentance calls us to repent simply come on back come back to the Father's house get off your road and get on my road come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden with whatever it is that burdens you down get off your path and get on my path I'll show you where to go and you're going to have peace return to the Lord this is something that Christians does every day a hundred times a day we come back we bring our thoughts back to him we bring our feet back into his path until his path his righteousness his mercy his holiness becomes our nature until his path is our path what a wonderful thing to be able to say Lord thank you for reminding me again that you are near and that you are in charge and that your way is the only way here I am I'm back and so the Lord invites us again today to come through an open door into glory into splendor into peace into joy beyond what we've known we can taste that glory we can be filled with that light we can go out of here knowing that God has showered us afresh with his mercy his pardon his peace power to do his will and we can live in that glory and we can experience but the same God who invites us to come through that door also warns us that time is short we must work the works of him who sent me while it is day, night comes when no one can work if you get into it the door which is now will close when it will close only God knows the spirit says soon but once it closes Jesus is speaking when once the householder has risen up and shut the door you will begin to stand outside and knock at the door saying Lord open to us and he will answer I do not know where you come from and then you will begin to say we ate and drank in your presence you taught in our streets but he will say I tell you I do not know where you come from depart from me and you may be found call upon him let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts let him return to the Lord that he may have mercy on him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon him but my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways says the Lord for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways my thoughts than your thoughts