Isaiah 53:6-7

The point: Stop spending your money and labor on things that cannot truly satisfy your soul, and instead seek nourishment in the Lord and His salvation.

Martin uses the metaphor of God as a street vendor or hawker crying out to people, to illustrate God's condescension and eagerness in offering the gospel's free provisions.

Now as I already intimated before reading this passage from Isaiah 55 it does form part of this unit in Isaiah's prophecy in which the gospel is so wonderfully and clearly set before us and now as we come to chapter 55 we find this concentration of the free and the unfettered invitations and commands and commands to partake of the benefits of the salvation secured by the suffering servant of the Lord. God condescends in these opening verses of chapter 55 to the role of a street vendor. I asked your pastor if you had any street vendors in Los Angeles. We have them by the hundreds in New York an...

4:38 - 5:49 Read in full sermon

The point: Stop spending your money and labor on things that cannot truly satisfy your soul, and instead seek nourishment in the Lord and His salvation.

The privileges of the gospel are likened to water (refreshing), wine (rejoicing), and milk (nourishing), to convey the profuseness and life-sustaining nature of God's provisions.

And it's as though he anticipates someone saying, Yes, but I don't have sufficient money even to buy water. And so the hawker, the vendor of goods says, He that has no money come, buy, come, buy wine, without money and without price. And here the privileges of the gospel are likened unto water that refreshes, wine that rejoices and milk nourishes. What a beautiful way to set forth the profuseness of gospel provisions.

5:50 - 6:26 Read in full sermon

The point: Understand that sin is fundamentally estrangement and rebellion against God, and therefore, to be right with God, you must have direct and sincere dealings with Him.

David's adultery and murder, and his subsequent prayer in Psalm 51, are used to illustrate that sin is fundamentally against God, even when it has horizontal dimensions.

you remember David in Psalm 51 guilty of the horrible means of adultery and murder by proxy guilty of the additional sin of living the life of a hypocrite for the space of almost an entire year and yet when the arrows of God found their mark in his heart and drove in prayer and out of the crucible diction and fresh dealings with God the first Psalm what is the emphasis of that Psalm mercy upon me according to the multitude of your tender mercies and then he goes on to say what on the surface seem to be shocking words against you we have ice and done that which is evil in your sight well wait a...

17:33 - 19:02 Read in full sermon

The point: Plead for mercy from the Son of God, knowing that He is pledged to show mercy, rooted in His justice satisfied by the suffering servant.

Martin quotes from Thomas Binney's hymn 'Eternal Light' to express the human dilemma of approaching a holy God with sin and ignorance, and the answer found in Christ.

the object of the adoring wonder of all the stand we wonder depth of can my have you ever felt that horrible or in the language of an old hymn writer by the name of binny he wrote eternal light eternal light which placed wing light shrinks not with calm look on thee but how shall I

40:18 - 41:29 Read in full sermon

The point: Plead for mercy from the Son of God, knowing that He is pledged to show mercy, rooted in His justice satisfied by the suffering servant.

Martin quotes Charles Wesley's hymn to show how the knowledge of God's forgiveness in Christ overcomes reluctance and gives boldness to lay hold of offered mercy.

whose native sphere is dark whose mind is dim will appear and on my naked you see the problem the but both wesley and binny had an answer there is a way for man to rise to that sublime abode an offering and a sacrifice a holy spirit's energies an advocate with god for the sight of holiness above ignorance and night may dwell with the eternal light through the eternal love hallelujah that's the gospel and wesley answers this way there for me the savior stands stand stand shows his wounds and spreads his hands god is love i know and loves me you see what these men understood and expressed in the...

41:29 - 42:59 Read in full sermon

The point: Plead for mercy from the Son of God, knowing that He is pledged to show mercy, rooted in His justice satisfied by the suffering servant.

The story of Bartimaeus crying out for mercy is used to illustrate the power of persistent pleading for mercy and God's readiness to respond.

exactly what the prophet does look at his word we return we can return leaving as it were god's mercy upon him and you see when we to the place when that's all for mercy what a wonderful place to be you remember the blind beggar bartimaeus he heard that jesus of nazareth was coming by and he had heard wonderful things about this man and his ability to

42:59 - 43:34 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not doubt God's willingness to pardon; He will abundantly pardon, just as the father in the prodigal son parable eagerly ran to meet his returning son.

The parable of the prodigal son is used to illustrate God's eagerness to pardon and His abundant mercy, exceeding the son's expectations.

care what your sin has been in its every single particular is so confident in the ability of his mercy he makes the pledge not me have mercy upon you and then the last part of the promise is untranslatable and you read the hebrew scholars and after they give their suggestions they all say give up multiply pardon i mean either you're pardoned or you ain't except this god is giving sinners every encouragement to go to him you will not reluctant to pardon he will pardon you will find him to be precisely the god of the prodigal son when he started his homeward journey hoping for the best he could ...

45:07 - 46:36 Read in full sermon