Isaiah 55: Extravagance (Come, Buy, and Eat!)

Presented to Corps 614 Regent Park Toronto, 28 February 2016 and Alberni Valley Ministries, 09 February 2020 by Captain Michael Ramsay

“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.” – Isaiah 55:1

‘You who have no money, come buy and eat’ – The first question that comes to my mind when I read this is, how can a person with no money come and buy anything to eat or otherwise? …let alone the fancy and extravagant stuff that is represented by milk and wine in the text? It doesn’t say someone else is buying you food. You, who have no money, Isaiah says, come, buy and eat all of this fancy expensive food. How is that possible?

Earlier this year Sarah-Grace and I went to a Leafs game. (Now it is not my intent here to make fun of the Leafs…). It was a great experience and the Leafs won which was a blessing in and of itself but alongside that something else really stood out to me: How expensive a game is. Not just the tickets to the game (which were pricey enough) but also the concessions. We brought some money for food at the game but not enough, I don’t think. I wasn’t expecting $14 for a hotdog and prices going up from there! Can you imagine if the Leafs owned a fancy black tie restaurant: ‘I’ll have the special please’ ‘That will be $2000 plus a 20% gratuity, would you like something to drink with that?”

Our image in Verse 1 could be of God seeing you at the Maple Leafs game and not buying you food but rather giving you the money to buy a hotdog and a drink or even a side of fries or something more extravagant. And our image is even more than that. Our image in Isaiah is of a country that is very poor, possibly under siege, and about to be (if not already) conquered.[1] When a place is under siege there is almost nothing to eat so everything in the country and the city is REALLY expensive. And God in our text to Israel, He says, ‘come over here. I’ll give you the money to buy and eat.’ God gives you the money so that you – who have nothing, no money, no food, nothing - you can pay for your meal and not just any subsistence meal but God gives you enough money for a fancy meal represented by milk and wine.

Isaiah 55:1 - “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.”

This extravagant generosity reminds me of when I was in elementary school. I was a kid in the 70s. One day I had just gone for a haircut with my dad and I wasn’t too happy about it. I was not a big fan of short hair back then. After the haircut, my dad and I were looking around the mall where the barbershop was; there was a brand new toy store in the mall. We happened to run into my Great Great Aunt Emma. She sees us and, after checking with my dad, she tells me that I can pick out anything in the toy store and she will give me the money to buy it. I walk around the whole store, see a little monkey toy that I like and I pick it up. She tells me to look for something bigger, reminding me that I can have whatever I want. So I walk around the store again and tell her I still want that little toy monkey. My aunt speaks to my father and my father speaks to me – ‘Really Michael you can have anything in the store you want, anything.’ She points to the biggest and the most expensive things in the store and my father assures me that really it is okay, I can get whatever I want... I don’t need to pick the cheapest thing in the store just to be nice; I can pick whatever I want. The dilemma for me was that this monkey which was near the cheapest thing in the store was the toy that I actually wanted; so while everyone thought I was being polite to and self-sacrificing, I really just bought what I wanted with the money she gave me and I still have this monkey to this day and I still remember the generosity of God and my aunt to this day every time I see it.

Now, the rest of the toy store story is that a day or two before seeing my aunt in the store I had actually just spent my own saved up allowance to buy something more expensive from the same store and at some point I remember thinking, as we were walking around the store, ‘where were you last week before I spent my own money on the more expensive item?’ The previous week, I learned the value of working and saving for something you desire and this week I learned to appreciate the extravagance of Grace.

  

Isaiah 55:1: “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.”

This is great but then we have Verse 2. A picture here could be of God just having given you all the money you need to go buy this great meal – a fancy meal with all of the trimmings. You come back, you sit down at the table with God and you start to share this meal that God has given you the money to buy because you ‘needed it’ and then God says, ‘that’s a nice watch you have; is that a new coat? I don’t think I’ve seen scarf of yours before. How much did those shoes cost?’ Verse 2: ‘Why [do you] spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy?’ Why do you buy all that stuff with your money when you don’t even have enough for food – a nice watch, a fancy cappuccino, a night out at the movies, fancy shoes... ? ‘Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.’ God says, verses 3-4, ‘Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a ruler and commander of the peoples.” ‘Enjoy your meal. Remember the promises that I made to the people of the world through King David.’ God says, ‘I have given you, Israel, everything, just as I promised.’

But now we wade into some troubling waters. Imagine you, like Israel, were figuratively or even literally starving and you are at this meal that God has given you the money and encouragement to buy and eat, then God draws your attention to all of the other stuff you have spent your money on.[2] Imagine that you are sitting down at this feast that God has provided for you and for the whole world, for that matter, and He starts asking you, ‘why do you buy things other than food when there are people starving in our world? Why are you spending God’s time and money on things you don’t need when there are people starving for the Word of God in our world? And why are you spending our time indulging in stuff you do not need while the person beside you may be perishing?

Verse 2: God gives us all this stuff, letting us know that He has and will always provide for us and then asks us why we aren’t sharing the Good News of God and His generosity with others (Dt 31:5-8, Heb 13:5). And many interpreters read the next few verses 5-9, as a real warning that if we, like Israel, do not share this good news of God’s generosity with others we will in essence be standing up and removing ourselves from His banqueting table, even as others notice the feast before us and come to enjoy it in our place (cf. Matt 22:1-14).[3] Isaiah says to Israel:

5 Surely you will summon nations you know not,

and nations you do not know will come running to you,

because of the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel,

for he has endowed you with splendour.”

(God’s generosity to Israel will bring other nations to God but then He warns His people :)

6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;

call on him while he is near.

7 Let the wicked forsake their ways

and the unrighteous their thoughts.

Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,

and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

(Seek the Lord while He is here [cf. Mt 6:33]. The implication is if we do not seek Him, if we do not sit at His table with Him at His eternal feast, then we will not be there.) [4]

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,”

declares the Lord.

9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

  

God has prepared this great banquet for us both for now and forever (cf. Matt 22:1-14). God has provided enough food, water, and everything for all of us in the world. God has provided a real Monday through Friday and Saturday and Sunday Salvation to the world. Temporally speaking, did you know that Canada alone has been given enough resources to feed and clothe the whole world? God has invited all of the nations of the earth to buy the food; He has provided but some people and some countries hoard the wealth God has given us and/or spend it on other things while grain, for one example, that could be exported to hungry people around the world rots on our docks.[5]

This is sad and this is true. But what is even more desperate and even more applicable than temporal starvation is eternal starvation: Canada has been given the Good News of Salvation. Canada was founded upon the Word of God. Our nation’s motto, ‘from Sea to Sea’ taken from Psalm 72:8 declares that in this nation God will have His dominion from sea to sea and that declaration was upheld at the establishment of the Order of Canada declaring, with Hebrews 11:16, of its members, “But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for He hath prepared for them a city.” And even more than that, The Constitutional Act itself declares that ‘Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law.’

God has invited us collectively to sit at His table and to partake of His eternal covenant. He has paid for our meal, this extravagant feast of salvation, but each day and every generation more of our nation and in every congregation people seem to be standing up from the table and walking away from the feast as we choose to spend God’s money and God’s time on something other than the eternal banquet to which He has invited us (TSA d. 9). It has been 2 millennia since the money for supper was left at the cross; how sad it would be if our country, our community, our church, our family, or ourselves walk away from the eternal meal that God has provided and paid for us. If any of us have pulled away from the table or if we haven’t even arrived yet, I invite us to, like Verse 9 says, turn to God before it is too late - as long as you have breath in your body it is not too late (cf. Eccl 12:1-7)[6] - for as we turn and return to God, Verse 10ff.

10 As the rain and the snow

come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

12 You will go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and hills

will burst into song before you,

and all the trees of the field

will clap their hands.

(As we turn and return to God)

13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,

and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.

This will be for the Lord’s renown,

for an everlasting sign,

that will endure forever.”

This is the love and the extravagant generosity of the Lord.

Isaiah 55:1: “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.”

That is the invitation to each of us today. God is calling all of us who are thirsty to come drink of this water of eternal life that those of us who drink of it will never thirst again (John 4:14). God has made and paid for our meal and He longs to share it with us for now and forever. And this very day God is walking with each and every one of us around the eternal toy store. He has already covered the cost for our salvation all we have to do is accept that gift and enjoy it now and for evermore. So today I invite each and every one of us to come, all you who are thirsty, come to Jesus and live.

  

Let us pray.

 www.sheepspeak.com 

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[1] Cf. Geoffrey W. Grogan, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Isaiah/Introduction to Isaiah/Authorship, Unity, and Date of Isaiah/The history of criticism of Isaiah, Book Version: 4.0.2

[2] Cf. Alastair Roberts,  "The Politics of God’s Plenty—Isaiah 55:1" Political Theology Today, (Manye Publishing) 2014. http://www.politicaltheology.com/blog/the-politics-of-gods-plenty-isaiah-551-5/

[3] Cf. Christopher R. Seitz, ' The Book of Isaiah 40-66 ', NIB VI, (Abingdon Press: Nashville, Tenn., 2001), 481.

[4] Edouard Kitoko Nsiku , 'Isaiah', Africa Bible Commentary, (Nairobi, Kenya: Word Alive Publishers, 2010), 871.

[5] Cf for an American parallel, Walter Brueggemann, 'A Covenant of Neighbourly Justice: Break the Chains of Quid Pro Quo Isaiah 55:1-9'  (ON Scripture - The Bible, Feb 28, 2016), on-line: http://www.onscripture.com/covenant-neighborly-justice-break-chains-quid-pro-quo#sthash.VNKENobF.dpuf

[6] Edouard Kitoko Nsiku , 'Isaiah', Africa Bible Commentary, (Nairobi, Kenya: Word Alive Publishers, 2010), 871.

Romans 10:9&13: Say it! Know it! Do it!

Presented to TSA Swift Current Corps, 11 September 2011 and 614 Regent Park 14 February 2016 by Captain Michael Ramsay

To read the original 2011 version click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2011/09/romans-109-say-it-know-it-do-it.html 

Today we are speaking about Romans 10:9: “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” And, Romans 10:13, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” These are some of the basics of the whole Christian faith (cf. TSA doc. 7).

Therefore as we launch into our time today, along these lines I thought that I would share this piece of wisdom that was presented to us at Officer Camp by Major David Ivany back long before we or he were Corps Officers here at 614 Regent Park Toronto. He told us:

This senior lady, Emma, she goes into a local Christian bookstore and sees a “Honk if you love Jesus” bumper sticker. Feeling particularly good that day because she has just come from a great choir practice and prayer meeting, she buys the bumper sticker and she put it on her car – professing her faith publicly. She recalls, “Boy, I’m glad I did! What an uplifting experience followed!” and then she launches into this story. She remembers stopping at a red light at a busy intersection just when she first had on her new ‘Honk if you love Jesus’ sticker. Lost in thought about the Lord and how good He had been to her, she didn’t notice the light had changed.

“It is a good thing someone else loves Jesus,” she said, “because if he hadn’t honked, I’d never have noticed that the light had changed!” She then noted that indeed, lots of people actually love Jesus because while she sat unmoving, blocking the lane of traffic, the guy behind her also honked like crazy before leaning out of his window and screaming, “For the love of God! Go! Go! Jesus Christ, Go!” She remembers thinking, “What an exuberant cheerleader he was for the Lord!”

Suddenly, it seemed as though she had started an epidemic and everyone started honking. Impressed by such a response, she leaned out of her window and started waving and smiling at all these loving people – while she was still parked in front of the intersection. “I even honked my horn a few times to share in the love!” she recited. Then she realized the mix of celebrants. “There must have been a man from Florida back there because I heard him yelling something about a “sunny beach… I saw another guy waving in a funny way with only his middle finger in the air. I asked my teenage grandson in the back seat what that meant, and he suggested that it was probably an Hawaiian good luck sign or something…”

The woman admitted that she had never met anyone from Hawaii before and was unaware of their customs. “I leaned out the window and gave him the good luck sign right back,” she reminisced.

She also remembers that a few persons were so caught up in the joy of the moment that they got out of their cars and started walking towards her. “I’ll bet they wanted to pray or ask what church I attended but that was when I noticed that the light had changed. So, I waved to all my loving sisters and brothers in Christ, grinned joyously, and drove on through the intersection. I noticed that I was the only car that made it through the intersection before the light changed again and I felt kind of sad that I had to leave them after all the love we had shared, so I slowed the car down, leaned out of the window and gave them all the Hawaiian good luck sign one last time before I sped away.”

I love this story.

Romans 10:9: “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” And, Romans 10:13, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

These two verses are two critical verses to that famous ‘Romans Road to Salvation’ so I thought that we would visit them today. The passage has in it a ready-made 3 points:

1) Romans 10:9: “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’

2) Believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

“For ...” 3) Romans 10:13, “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

1)      Confess Jesus as Lord with your mouth.      Say it.

2)      Believe in your heart in His resurrection.     Know it.

3)      Call on the name of the Lord.                       Do it.

These are the three things we need to remember, pertaining to Salvation, when we leave here today – and forever more – to take advantage of the Salvation that God has provided the whole world as a free gift (Romans 6:23; John 3:16-17); to take advantage of God’s Salvation, we should:

1)      Say it!

2)      Know it!

3)      Do it!

1) Say it! Romans 10:9: “…confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord…’

This is important. Whenever I hear this verse I immediately think of Peter, the rock upon which Christ was to build His church (Mt 16:13-16; cf. Mk 8:27-29, Lk 9:18-20). Jesus tells Peter that he is going to use him to help build his church. This is when Jesus gives him the nickname ‘Peter’ – that wasn’t his given name; Simon was his given name – Peter means ‘Rock’ or even ‘Rocky’. Simon ‘Rocky-Peter’ is to be one of Christ’s main ‘go to’ people after His resurrection and we remember the story about how Jesus told Rocky-Peter that he would deny him 3 times before the cock crows twice and then shortly after Peter’s saying ‘I would never deny you’, he denies Christ and then shortly after Peter’s third denial that he even knows Jesus; the rooster crows and Peter is devastated (Mt 26:69-75; cf. Mk 14:66-72, Lk 22:55-62, Jn 18:15-27).

Point #1 about Salvation today: Say it! (Cf. Lev 21:12–15; 1 Cor 12:3; Phil 2:11; 1 Pet 3:13–16, 21) Simon Peter had his chance to confess Jesus as Lord but he declined it. Now, if the story ended there it would be sad indeed but John 21:15ff, records Simon Peter’s restoration, as Rocky, as Peter. ^[1] The Resurrected Lord asks him 3 times to feed his sheep and he agrees to it.^[2] Near the conclusion of the book of John, Jesus then blows on Peter -and the other disciples- giving him the Holy Spirit (Jn 20:22). Luke picks up the story of Rocky-Peter in the book of Acts where Rocky-Peter is there at Pentecost, taking the lead as the Holy Spirit, like a starting pistol, sends the disciples and more out to say it, to proclaim salvation to the world. And as recorded in Acts 2, after they say it, after they share the gospel in many different languages as the Spirit enables them, the Lord adds to their number daily those being saved (cf. also Dt 30:14; Mt 10:32, 2 Cor 4:13-14; Phil 2:11). Point 1, Romans 10:9, for us today, Say it!

Peter and the disciples said it and many were saved. And just to underscore that Peter did fully recover from his earlier denial, church tradition states that in the end Peter even earned his martyr’s crown. He was apparently crucified upside down as he left his life here for heaven to await the resurrection. Pt 1: Say it! This brings us to Pt 2.

2) Know it! Believe in your heart in His resurrection.

It is great and it is very important to proclaim the gospel but that is not the end of it. Speaking is one thing and believing is quite another. If you have any doubt about that, think about the general reputation (accurate or not) of our elected politicians – speaking is one thing, believing what you say is quite another. Paul in this section of scriptures is really addressing the whole problem of Israel (Ro 9-11; cf. Dt 30, Lev. 18). He is addressing the problem of the Law and their relation to the Law and their relationship to God. He is quite concerned about people who are quite happy to say what needs to be said – the Pharisees, as a group, did believe in the resurrection in general and as a group said a lot; they were quite evangelistic (cf. Acts 23:7-8)! But believing in your heart in Jesus’ resurrection is quite a different matter though (1 Cor 15:17; cf. 2 Cor 4:13-14).  And the Apostle Paul - who was a Pharisee - celebrated the fact that Jesus has been raised from the dead but sadly many Israelites and even Pharisees did not. It pained Paul that people who were zealous for God’s Law were indeed missing out on the benefits of the culmination of the Law, Jesus, the one whom the Law points towards (cf. Ro 9:1-5; 10:1-4; Mt 5:17,18; Lk 16:16; Acts 4:12; Gal 3:19-24). Salvation is about, Point 1, Saying it, confessing that Jesus is Lord, and it is also about, Point 2, Knowing it, really believing in your heart in the resurrection and in Jesus’ resurrection, which is the central part of not only’ Paul’s message but of all of Christianity (Ro 6:9, 9:16; 1 Cor 15:17, 20; 2 Cor 4:13-14; Eph 1:20-23; Phil 2:9-11; Col 3:1-4; Heb 2:9; Rev 1:17-18; cf. Dt 30:14, Acts 4:12, Isa 28:16).^[3] N.T. Wright tells us, “Almost all early Christians known to us believed that their ultimate hope was the resurrection of the body.  There is no spectrum such as in Judaism.  Some in Corinth denied the future resurrection (1 Cor 15:12), but Paul put them straight; they were most likely reverting to pagan views, not opting for an over-realized Jewish eschatology.”^[4] Belief in the resurrection and the resurrection of Christ is central to Christianity.^[5]

To review what we know so far about Romans 10’s three points of Salvation:

1) Say it! - Confess Jesus as Lord with your mouth.     

2) Know it! - Believe in your heart in His resurrection.

3) Do it! Call on the name of the Lord.

3) Do it! Call on the name of the Lord.

This is important. Saying it is good. Knowing it is better. Doing it is imperative (This fact is also implied in v. 9). ^[6] The scriptures speak about this quite a bit (cf. Lev 18:5, Dt 30:11-16; Acts 2:16-21, Joel 2:32). ^[7] I believe that Matthew actually paints this picture quite vividly. In Chapter 25:31ff is recorded the parable of the sheep and the goats. In that parable you have two groups of nations. Both groups – the sheep and the goats – 1) say and 2) know that Jesus is Lord. But it is only the sheep that do anything about it. As a result, only the sheep are saved. The goats which didn’t do anything go off to where there is a weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 7:21 is quite clear on this matter: it is recorded that the Lord says “Not everyone who calls me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven but only he who does the will of my Father in heaven”: Say it! Know it! Do it!

We must actually call on the name of the Lord. We have to call on Him. We have to trust him.^[8] This is important. For example, on this Valentines Day, it is one thing for me to confess that I know my wife; it is another thing to believe in my heart the many wonderful things that have been done through her: these are wonderful things but my relationship with Susan only grows when I actually call on her, when I actually spend time with her. I can say she is my wife all I want; I can believe she is my wife all I want; but we only actually have a marriage if I bother to see her, to call on her sometimes. This is important. Christianity isn’t some academic pursuit. Christianity isn’t some code. Christianity isn’t some rules and regulations. Christianity isn’t some club. Christianity isn’t some principles to live our life by. Christianity is a relationship with the risen Christ. Jesus Christ raised from the grave and he promises that, Romans 10:13 “…everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” He loves us and he wishes that none would perish. And Salvation in our text today is as easy as 1, 2, and 3. It is my prayer today that every one of us here will:

1) Say it! - Confess Jesus as Lord with our mouths.     

2) Know it! - Believe in our hearts in His resurrection.

3) Do it! – That we would call upon the name of the Lord.

Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.” Matthew 11:30: “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Romans 10:15 and Isaiah 52:7, "...How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" (cf. Ps 118:26, Mt 21:9, 23:39, Mk 11:9, Lk 13:35, 19:38, Jn 12:13). Romans 10:9a, say it: confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. Romans 10:9b, know it: believe in your heart in Jesus’ resurrection. And above all else, Romans 10:13, do it: call upon the name of the Lord and then even we will be saved. Halleluiah! Praise the Lord! Let it be.

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com

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[1] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, ‘John 21:15-23: We’re Back!’ Presented to Weston Corps of the Salvation Army, May 2006 and Nipawin Corps of The Salvation Army, 21 February 2009. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2009/02/john-2115-23-were-back.html

[2]Cf. George R. Beasley-Murray, John, (WBC 36: Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1987), 404-405.

[3] Cf. William Hendricksen, Exposition of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, NTC (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic: 1981), 345

[4] Cf. N.T. Wright, 'Jesus’ Resurrection and Christian Origins' (Originally published in Gregorianum, 2002, 83/4, 615–635).  Reproduced by permission of the author on-line at http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Jesus_Resurrection.htm

[5] Cf. Everett F. Harrison, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-, ROM:Romans/Exposition of Romans/VI. The Problem of Israel: God's Righteousness Vindicated (9:1-11:36)/D. Israel's Failure to Attain Righteousness Due to Reliance on Works Rather Than Faith (9:30-10:21), Book Version: 4.0.2: Paul's statement in vv. 9, 10 is misunderstood when it is made to support the claim that one cannot be saved unless he makes Jesus the Lord of his life by a personal commitment. Such a commitment is most important; however, in this passage, Paul is speaking of the objective lordship of Christ, which is the very cornerstone for faith, something without which no one could be saved. Intimately connected as it was with the resurrection, which in turn validated the saving death, it proclaimed something that was true no matter whether or not a single soul believed it and built his life on it.

[6] Cf. John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans Vol. II, NICNT, (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Eerdmans, 1968), 56; John Stott, Romans: God’s Good News for the World, (Leicester, UK: IV Press: 1994), 283;  F. F. Bruce, Romans: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1985 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 6), S. 201 - Doing it, though not specifically reference (it doesn’t need to be because it is referenced a few verses later in v.18), is implied as well in verse 9.

[7] F. F. Bruce, Romans: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1985 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 6), S. 201: There the statutes and ordinances of God were enjoined on the people so that they might do them and live. Here God says that his commandment ‘is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?” Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?” But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.’ (Paul significantly omits the italicized words.) That the doing of the commandment was the way to life in the Deuteronomy context is evident from the words of Moses which follow immediately: ‘See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live …’ (Deut. 30:15–16).

[8] Cf. John Stott, Romans: God’s Good News for the World, (Leicester, UK: IV Press: 1994), 285

Romans 13:11-14: The Really Super Bowl

Presented to 614 Regent Park Toronto, 07 February 2016

Presented to Swift Current Corps, 16 August 2009

Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps, 02 December 2007

This is the 2016 Toronto Text.

To view the original text, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2007/12/victory-final-whistle-romans-1311-14.html

Today is Superbowl Sunday. It is a big deal here and most places. In Saskatchewan – where we lived for 10 years – there is a more important football event; do you know what that is? (The Grey Cup) Our first year in Saskatchewan … something happened that had a profound effect on the whole province…Saskatchewan won the Grey Cup. This was exciting.

We we responsible two churches in those days: One in a town called Nipawin, where we lived, and another down the highway in Tisdale. The game started as we were finishing up our church service in Tisdale and driving back to Nipawin. On the way home in the car, when I turned on the radio, the other team was up 3-0. (It was neat though as we were driving the highway between these two small Saskatchewan towns because every farm house you passed you could see had the game on the TV.) The other team then went up 10-0. I had faith, though that the victory all of Saskatchewan had been waiting for for 18 years was finally coming and –as history has since recorded now my faith, my hope was not in vain. The cup returned to Saskatchewan.

I got back to Nipawin to see the end of the game and something struck me in the last couple of moments of the football game, right after an interception near the end of the game, you could see the anticipation as the cameramen zoomed in on the Saskatchewan players’ faces. They knew the game had been won already but it wasn’t over yet. The game had been won, they wanted to celebrate but it wasn’t over yet. The game had been won already and it took everything for the coach to keep the players on the sideline and staff off the field because the game wasn’t over yet. They knew that it had been won but the game wasn’t over yet. The anticipation was written on the Riders’ faces as they knew that the game had been won but it wasn’t over yet….

This is exactly the situation that Paul in Romans is talking about in Romans 13:11-12, he writes: "And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here...."

Verse 11 says that our salvation is nearer than when we first believed! The Apostle Paul, in his letters, uses the word ‘salvation’ in a number different of ways.

One way he uses the word is to refer to how we can be saved from the normal course of events in our lives. We can be saved from daily events such might happen if we are driving too fast and are pulled over; sometimes a friendly officer for some reason can decide not to issue us a ticket: we are saved that expense. Another way is for someone to offer us a ride when we were going to walk or catch the bus somewhere. This is a common way that we are saved everyday and this is one way that Paul does use the word ‘salvation’ but this daily salvation is not exactly what Paul is talking about here.

Paul speaks at times also, in other places in his letters - like in 2 Corinthians 6:2 – about the ‘Day of Salvation’ and that ‘Day of Salvation’, Paul syas, is already here. It is not still to come; it has already arrived but in Verse 11 of our text Paul says that our salvation is still to come: it says that our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; so how can that be?

How can our salvation be both now and still to come? How can it be both near and here already. This is an important idea to understand (theologians refer to this concept as a ‘prolepsis’) because our Salvation, as it is, has indeed already been achieved. It was achieved when Jesus died and then won the victory through rising from the dead. Paul himself acknowledges this in other places in the scriptures: 2 Corinthians 6:2, 1 Corinthians 15:2, Ephesians 2:8 and the Apostle Peter talks about just this in 1 Peter 1. So then Christ has already won the victory but the final reward of Salvation is still to come. The Game is won - but the final whistle has not been blown and the really super bowl, the Everlasting Cup is still to be presented.

It is very much like a football game. When a player goes down on one knee to run out the clock at the end of the game there is no way they can be defeated. The fans are already victors with the team, they are cheering like mad, coaches are being showered in Gatorade... even with seconds still to play, players and fans are victorious with their team just like we are already victors with Christ.

When Christ died on the cross and rose from the grave, Death was dealt its deathblow: Christ intercepted the pass and ran for the final touchdown putting game out of reach. There is no way now that sin and death can ever come back and win the game but the thing is that that final whistle hasn’t gone yet and this is exactly what Paul is speaking about.

In this passage in Romans, Paul is speaking about salvation as if it were that final whistle of the game. Sure the Riders, in our first year in Saskatchewan had won the game with 20 seconds left but they did not get to hold the Cup until after the final whistle had sounded.

The analogy Paul uses to make this same point is quite neat: Paul refers to our salvation as the daytime that is almost here. This is exciting because just like a game that is out of reach, there is nothing that we can do to stop the daytime from coming; there is no such thing as a night that never ends; for that to happen the earth must stop spinning and then we would have a lot more problems than just darkness. Day hasn’t arrived yet but there is nothing we can do to stop it from coming.

That being said, Paul still has some words for us. He says that we should wake up (v. 11)! We don’t want to miss it. Wouldn’t you hate to be a sports fan who, after 18 years (or more) of waiting, sleep through the victory and awarding of the cup to your team? It wouldn’t change the outcome of the game but it would sure affect you. Paul says, wake up! You don’t want to miss the finish! You don’t want to miss the dawn but he says even more than that.

Paul says that since the darkness is fading (v 12), we should no longer live like we are in the darkness. It is like ‘regime change’ such as we’ve heard so much in the news the last couple of years and there is a good example of this from historical England actually.

There was a time in England’s history when she had neither a King nor a Queen. Parliament had won the war against the monarchy and that is arguably the darkest period in all of English history. The rules of their society changed so drastically: it became so repressive without the king to look out for the common people that they eventually begged the son of the king to come back to rule over them again – but, even then, it takes a while and people have to be convinced to act the way the new regime wants. Just ask the Americans how well their new regimes in Iraq and Afghanistan are going…it may be a new day there but many people are not choosing to live under their authority.

It is the same in our world here today. When Christ died and rose there came about a regime change – the King is back. The Son of the King has come. And soon again he is even coming back and as this is the case, it is time to stop acting as if he is not.

Daytime is arriving so we should stop doing all of those things that people like to do in the night. Some of these things that we should stop are listed in our Romans 10: it says in v 13 that we should not engage in sexual immorality and debauchery; we should not engage in dissention and jealousy. Doing so, acting on our own selfish desires, would be like swearing allegiance to the darkness, to the old regime, the defeated regime; it would be like paddling out to join the Titanic as it’s going down or buying shares in Eaton’s or Enron as it goes ‘belly up.’ It would not be prudent. It would not be smart.

This is important: when we focus on ourselves rather than God and others (8-10; Matt 7:12, 22:40), we are serving the defeated regime and don’t be mistaken, even though it is defeated, it is still fighting and even though darkness has lost, people are still dying.

This is very much like the battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812. I don’t know how much you know about that battle or that war but it is very significant. You see the War of 1812 began when England was busy trying to contain Napoleon as he was bringing war to every corner of the planet. England was very busy trying to stop him so the Americans thought this would be a good time to conquer Canada so like they did many times before, they invaded – only it didn’t go so well. They lost. We were saved. They failed to conquer Canada and they were forced to send their agents overseas to sue for peace.

On December 24, Christmas Eve, 1815, the war ended with the US but there was no long distance telephone, no e-mail, and no other way to tell the troops in the field this news quickly in those days and so on January 8, 1816 (after the war had officially already ended) a terrible thing happened. General Pakenham took the initiative on his own and invaded New Orleans. The Americans, the enemy had already been defeated; the war had already been won but there were over 1700 casualties that day. The war had already been won but many people still perished in the battle that followed.

This is what it is like for us today. Even though the victory has been won, people are still perishing. If we follow our own selfish desires, even though the war has been won…not everyone has been delivered from the darkness. There are still people perishing today.

How many of us, like General Pakenham’s troops, are perishing when we don’t have to? How many of us are acting on our own instead of submitting to God? How many of us, our friends, our family, still give in to drunkenness, debauchery, sexual sin..? When we do so we are serving the darkness, the old regime, the defeated regime.

How many of us still give into quarrelling and jealousy? They are the same as the former sins, you know. And so when we do, we are serving the darkness, the old regime, the defeated regime. If you break one aspect of the law you break the whole thing (Gal 3). In the eyes of the Lord sin is sin and the consequence of sin is the same as it was for those poor people who marched to their graves in New Orleans even though the victory has been one. The wages of sin are death (Romans 6:23).

So why would we commit sexual sin or quarrel with each other? Why when we know that this is submitting to the old regime? Why? Why are we content to live in the darkness?

Why not rather strap on the armour of light like it says in Verse 12. Actually this is neat too. Did you know that the word translated as ‘armour’ here (and in Ephesians 6) –‘hopla’ - is probably better translated ‘weapons’? This designates much more than just defending oneself with amour. This refers to going out and seizing the foe. We should not just hide from the darkness we must wage war against it.

It says in Verse 14 that we must put on Jesus Christ himself and make no provisions for our own selfish desires and really that is what the answer to everything is isn’t it? As we put on Christ, we can engage the world and not succumb to it. When we have Him as our armour nothing can slay us – He has no Achilles heel.

So it is to this end that I exhort us today. Even as we are awaiting the Superbowl today, Our Game, the Eternal Game has been won, the foe has been defeated; therefore for us to be engaged in selfishness now would be like if in the last seconds of play one of the players on the winning side switched uniforms to join the losing team. Why when the victory is already won would anyone want to forfeit their prize before it is awarded? Why would we want to reject our salvation now that the daylight is coming?

So today, I leave us with this encouragement. Sin is already defeated. Death is already dead and the darkness is already fading; so let us, like Jesus said to the lady accused of adultery in John 8:10, `let us go and sin no more` so that we may be there to experience the really super bowl victory and hoist that great cup of eternal life high with Christ who has already won us the victory.  

Let us pray.

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