We stopped counting noses many,
many, many years ago, and I don't dare wish to go back to them. We have here this morning those
whom God is pleased to have put here And we'll take that without
any complaint. How about turning in your Bibles
to the prophet Isaiah, chapter 55. Now, this morning it is my intention
to address one single question to every one of us here. To be
wrong about this is to perish forever and ever in a fire that
never goes out. I don't care what you've heard,
that hell is not quite as bad as the Bible says it is, but
if it's in this book, that's how it is. You don't want to
go there. Nobody in their right minds wants
to go there. But religion, generally speaking
in our day, and I mean by that Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian,
whatever else you want to name, Protestant, Catholic, it's all
in the same boat. We have missed the answer to
that question, what must I do to be saved? I mean, we have missed it a country
mile. Preachers are telling people
lies because they have discovered that if they tell people what
they want to hear, they can pack this place out every Sunday.
If they'll use enough gimmicks and rewards to get people to
come and drag others with them. But there's nothing in that.
This has nothing to do, that has nothing to do with who God
is. And who I am and who you are.
We ain't nothing but sinners. What must I do to be saved? And I ain't much of a speaker.
But I'm going to do the best I can, but I'm going to answer
that question, and I'm going to answer it from this book.
And here's the first sample, Isaiah chapter 55. And I want you to hold on to
this chapter, because I need to come back to it a couple of
other times after we do our reading. My dear wife has typed me out
my scriptures so I can just read them right off this sheet of
paper. But if you have to turn to it, it will take up too much
time, I think. And I need a little extra time
this morning anyway. Isaiah 55. I'm so excited about
this that I need to stop for a second. And let's pray to the God of
the Bible to visit us in this place this day. Lord, you know all things. There isn't
anything that you don't know. You can do anything. that you please. And all that
you do is designed to bring honor and glory to our blessed Lord
Jesus Christ. You see us here this morning. We're just a handful But Lord, if you would lower
yourself and come among us by your Spirit, nothing else would matter. If you would come to this place and give us what we need to understand
what this book says about what a sinner must do to be saved. Lord, bless your word. We have for many years in this
place read these statements and passages
in our Bibles many, many, many times. Oh, that you would come and open
the meaning of this book called the Holy Bible. We beg for your presence. We
pray that we might honor and glorify your name this day. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. All right, Isaiah 55. Ho, everyone
that thirsts. Come you to the waters, and he
that has no money, come you, buy and eat." Now, this is a
strange market. Look what it says about buying
and eating. Now, some of you are going to
go somewhere to eat lunch today or dinner. I call it dinner.
You can call it whatever you want to. But, you know, you're
going to have to have a few pesos in your pocket if you go. So
what does the Bible mean when it tells us to buy something?
Now watch it carefully. Come you, buy wine and milk without
money and without price. You can't earn it. We cannot
merit it. We surely can never deserve it. But God gives his mercies to
sinners through his Son, the Lord Jesus. And God is well pleased
with his Son. Wherefore, or why, do you spend
money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which
satisfies not? Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness." Now, this is one time calories don't count. You can have all of the Word
of God that you want. I promise you that. Verse 3, "...incline your ear
and come unto me. Herein your souls shall live,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you." Forget these
temporary covenants. This is an everlasting covenant. Even the sure mercies of David. And we don't have time to go
there now, but in 2 Samuel 23, verse 5, you'll find David's
dying words, and he includes this statement about an everlasting
covenant. He said, Although it be not so
with my house, yet God has made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things, and sure, this is all my salvation and
all my desire. even though God make it not to
grow. David had a goodly number of the members of his family,
some of his sons who tried to kill him to take his throne.
And he understood that clearly and plainly. That he could not decide for
them, and neither can parents decide for their children, even
to this hour. There are some things we can
do that might enter into the picture, that is, putting them
under the true preaching of the Word of God and just see what
God will do. But we cannot save our own. And
in spite of it being a popular doctrine, there ain't no such
thing as household salvation in the Bible. It just simply is not there. Behold, I have given him a witness
to the people, a leader and commander to the people. This is all speaking
about Christ. Behold, you shall call a nation.
The Lord Jesus shall call a nation. that you know not, and nations
that know not you shall run unto you because of the Lord your
God, and for the Holy One of Israel. For He, God the Father,
has glorified the Lord Jesus Christ. Seek you the Lord while
He may be found. Call you upon Him while He is
near. Let the wicked forsake His way, and the unrighteous
man his thoughts. And let him return unto the Lord,
and he will have mercy upon him and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon." Another sobering statement here
in verses 8 and 9. You won't find many people to
believe this. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
are your ways my ways, saith 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." I think that means God ain't
like this, don't you? He's infinitely, infinitely,
infinitely more than all humankind put together since the beginning
of time until the end of time. Alright, verse 10. For as the
rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and returns not
there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth in bud,
that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater.
Listen carefully. Verse 11. So shall my word be
that goes forth out of my mouth. Here's what happens when God
speaks. I want you to see it in print
because I ain't making this up. I had been a preacher a long
time before I even found out such statements were in this
book. I don't know what I did before that. I think I just hopscotched
right over them because I didn't know what they meant, and I didn't
like what they said. I was lost as a jaybird. So shall my word be that goes
forth out of my mouth, It shall not return unto me void. All the men on the face of the
earth cannot stop God from accomplishing his purposes. Shall not return unto me void,
but Now listen carefully, here's part of the answer to that question,
what must I do to be saved? But it shall accomplish that
which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto
I set it. God can't be frustrated. You can get a prayer chain a
hundred miles long, it ain't going to sway Him. That ain't nothing but bunk from
start to finish. And I've been a part of that
before. It's like, you know, ganging up on God. If we get
enough pressure on Him, He'll do this for us. Not the God of
the Bible. This new God that preachers are
preaching, which ain't no God at all, by the way, But he'll
do that. He'll respond to that. At least
they'll tell you he did. Verse 12 and 13, For you shall
go out with joy, and be led forth with peace. The
mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands Instead
of the thorns shall come up the fir tree, instead of the briars
shall come up the myrtle tree, and it shall be to the Lord for
a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." That's
a pretty good word there in that last verse. It's in that verse
four times, I think. This Bible has a lot of passages
like that that is just salt and peppered with this statement,
he shall. He shall. God does as he pleases. All the time. There's never any
change in that. It is gloriously and wonderfully
true. Now then, let's go back. to verse
1 of Isaiah 55. Let's read that verse one more
time and address ourselves now to that question that we want
to get answered this morning. Ho, everyone that thirsts, come
you to the waters, and he that has no money Come you, buy and eat, yea, buy
wine and milk without money and without price." Now, when the Bible is speaking
here in verse 1 of Isaiah 55, that God's mercies, God's grace,
his blessing, whatever aspect you want to talk about, these
do not come because of something we do. God, as far as mankind is concerned,
is uncontrollable. Now what that means is he doesn't
need controlling. He controls everything. Everything. You and me included. Whether
I like it or not. Or don't like it. That doesn't
change a thing. Not one single thing. So why
is it that we do not see this glorious truth that God's mercy
is mercy in Christ and it is without money and without price? It's not anything that we can
earn or deserve. And here are several reasons
for that, and I want to get through these as quickly as I can because
I have a few other things I need to address as well. Why is false religion so easy to believe in when the
true gospel of God's grace in Christ makes many a person mad
and they spin on their heels and say, well, if that's what
you're going to preach, I ain't ever coming back. You can say
that if you want to. I wish you wouldn't. I'd rather preach to a thousand
than to fifty or twenty-five or whatever. But I don't want to do it bad
enough to change the message of this book. I preached that side of the fence
one time, and God delivered me. And if He'll help me and enable
me, I ain't going back. Alright, here are the reasons
why we don't see this. First of all, because of our
wrong relationship to God. If you've got a pencil, you might
jot down this little verse of Scripture. And I won't give it
to you, but I've unquoted it. Alright? It's a principle that covers
a lot of territory. We love God. Why? Because He first loved us. Now listen, if God ever really
loves you, He won't ever quit. But mind you, I ain't saying
that God loves everybody. This book doesn't say that. It's
lying preachers that say that. God loves you and has a wonderful
plan for your life, but He can't do anything for you unless you
let Him. That ain't so. That's a complete
lie. Might as well tell the truth.
If we ain't telling the truth, we need to nail up the doors
and go home. Not understanding that the only
reason that any of us or anybody who's ever lived in this world
or will ever live, the only reason that any of us love God is because
God chose us in that everlasting covenant of grace in old eternity. And He gives us this love for
Himself. It's not that he loves us because
he looked ahead of time and saw that we would love him. No siree.
That's not true. It flat out is not true. Not
only a wrong relationship to God that causes this, but a wrong
judgment of God. Now, if you held on to Isaiah
55, I want to back that statement up in verses 8 and 9. For my thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, saith 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." God is just
infinitely, infinitely greater. There's no comparison between
the triune God and ourselves. Second answer to that question,
Why it is that we don't see and understand this statement, this
question, what must I do to be saved? It is because of our condition
that happened to us long before we were ever thought of or born.
This event took place in the Garden of Eden. You remember the Lord told Adam
and Eve there was one particular tree in that garden of which
they were not to eat thereof. And Eve decides, with the temptation
of Satan encouraging her, to take one of those fruits off
that tree, whatever kind it is that is immaterial. And she enticed
Adam to do the same. Now listen carefully. But when Eve sinned, if Adam
had not also sinned, we would have been born into the human
race without an outright desire to be evil and to tell God to
just go take a hike. You know why? Most of you do. Adam is the federal head of the
human race. It's like you congressmen and
you senators in Washington, which I hate to even think about, because
there's a worthless bunch of nobodies up there in my book.
But when Adam voted in the garden to partake of that fruit, every
human being since that time has been born a sinner. Not waiting to find out if he's
going to be one, born one. Well, preacher, what about the
human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ? Oh, I can tell you about
that one, too. He did not have a human father.
The Holy Spirit conceived our Lord Jesus in his human nature
in the womb of Mary without the aid of a man. And here's why
that's important. If God condemns us in a federal
head and a substitute like Adam in the garden, then He can also
forgive people and satisfy His justice in giving us life in
His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't condemn and justify
on two separate bases. They have to be the same. in
order for it to be legitimate and truly just. Second reason in regard to this
fall of Adam, let me read you a verse of scripture. Then said they unto him," these
are people talking to our Lord Jesus. This was immediately after
the feeding of the 5,000, and they went to great pains now
to find him. They found him, although they
never saw him get into a boat, they found him on the other side
of the Sea of Galilee. And our Lord said to them, they
said unto Christ, after he made it plain that he would not Put
them on free food every day for the rest of their lives. He didn't
come here for that purpose. He came here to redeem his people. They said to him, well, what
shall we do that we might work the works of God? If you don't
want to do it for us, you just tell us the secret. Tell us how
you did it. And we'll do it for ourselves.
We won't have to work another day in our lives. Works good
for you, you know that? What shall we do that we might
work the works of God? Now, if this work is the work
of God, it ain't mine and yours. The reason the Lord Jesus could
do it is because he's God and man in one person, called the
incarnate God. And here's our Lord's answer
to that question of these people in verse 28. It comes out of
John chapter 6, verses 28 and 29. Jesus answered and said unto
them, This is the work of God. And normally the word the is
not very important in a given sentence. But when it is identifying
the one thing, that is of great significance in regard to this
matter of our Lord feeding the souls of men with the bread of
life, who is none other than the Lord Jesus. Jesus answered
and said unto them, This is the, that is the one and only, work
of God, and that is that you believe on him whom God has sent. Now what that means is that people
who believe Believe, because they cannot do otherwise. God, in mysterious grace and
mercy by his Spirit, gives us a new heart, a new mind, and
a new interest in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And
this, my friend, is really, really, really important. There's a song in your bulletin
today, part of which says, Till Jesus Christ you claim by a living
faith, doing is a deadly thing. Doing ends in death. Salvation is not based on something
we do. It's based on something already
done 2,000 years ago. Third reason this statement is
not generally addressed as it appears in our Bibles is because
the general rule between men and men, the rule is that you
must pay for what you have. But when it comes to the gospel,
you don't have anything to pay with. And it's downright insulting
to God who gave his only begotten Son to die on the cross at Calvary,
my Lord, that event is the event of all events. It's not trying
to get us to sympathize with Christ. It's telling us that's
what sin does. It will kill you. It will kill
you forever. It's also because of our natural
pride. You tell a man that's proud of
being a moral man, and you tell him he must be saved the same
way as thieves and murderers, his blood will boil quicker than
you could ever get it to boil anywhere else. I mean, it would
make him livid. I've seen it. I've experienced
it. Or tell a woman of purity that
she must be saved like any other prostitute. And people don't
like that. God only saves sinners. Christ
only died for sinners. And the fifth reason why this
question, what must I do to be saved, is not properly answered,
is because all religions that have ever been of man's own making
Teach that God's gifts must be purchased or merited. All demand a price for the promise
of salvation. That's false religion. Here's
the way you can recognize it. If the preacher says, if you'll
do this, God will do this. Oh no. Never happened. That's a false gospel, and that's
false religion. What must I do to be saved? Nothing. What? Nothing, either great or
small. Nothing! Sinner? No! Jesus did it, did it all long,
long ago. Salvation is complete. You can't add anything to it.
You can't take anything from it. And that's what this book teaches. And I've been kicked out of enough
Baptist churches to know what people think of such a gospel. But you can't compromise the
gospel. Now, remember this other phrase
that came out of Isaiah 55-1, without money and without price. First of all, from the character
of this God who accepts no money and no price. What if Mary and Martha had said
to our Lord after he raised Lazarus, their brother from the dead,
how much do we owe you? I mean, that would ruin the whole thing. It would tell us that God does
things for people who are wealthy that He doesn't for those that
aren't wealthy. This without money and without
price, is necessary because of the value of the gift. How much money is salvation worth? It's priceless. You and I can't pay it. Our Lord said in John 6.63, the
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are
life. What a wonderful statement indeed. This necessity, without money
and without price, must also be understood in the
light of the poverty of human depravity. It would be like being in a foreign
country with some U.S. coins in your pocket, and they
won't accept them. You understand what I'm saying? You don't have anything that
God is interested in. in order to deserve or merit
having his Son redeem you and save you for all time and all
eternity. We have no money nor price to
bring. The difficulty is, now you'll
enjoy this, listen carefully, the difficulty is that the price
of our redemption, as far as we're concerned, is too low. Too low. For human pride and
sinners will not come down to this price. What is that price? Free. Free and sovereign grace
in our Lord Jesus Christ. People still haggle and haggle,
and they want to do something or be something or promise something,
if nothing else, feel something. And then they might think, well,
maybe something's really happened. Lord, have mercy. All right,
here's my final page of notes, and I want to address this as
quickly as I can. What are the beneficial effects
of a gospel that is without money and without price? I love this
first one. It enables us to preach the gospel
to every creature. I mean every human being all
over this globe. To kings and queens and beggars,
too. The gospel is without money and
without price. This gospel forbids despair. There's no room for despair. The Lord Jesus is not changing. He cannot change. I mean, if
you're God, you can't quit being God. You understand? God is the same
yesterday, today, and forever. Christ is the same yesterday,
today, and forever. The gospel is the same today
and forever. This gospel forbids despair. This gospel inspires with gratitude. And this gospel can make a poor
sinner a devoted worshiper. Now, I've got some notes somewhere
that has flew the coop. Let me see if I can find them.
I want you to take your bulletin
and turn to the back cover. And I did my best Friday and
Saturday to use some other message than
Isaiah 55 this morning. And my wife put this hymn on
the back page of today's bulletin, and I got to looking at that,
and I said, well, we've got to go a different direction. So
for better or worse, that's how it is. What must I do to be saved? How about reading? We ain't never
done a responsive reading. Can we do one? Some of these things you have
to say for yourself. Let's try it. All right. Nothing
either great or small. Nothing, center, no. Jesus did
it, did it all long, long ago. When he from his lofty throne
stooped to do and die, everything was fully done, hearkened to
his cry. It is finished. Yes, indeed. Finished every jot. Sinner, this
is all you need. Tell me, is it not? Weary, working,
prodding one, wherefore toil you so? Cease your doing, all
was done long, long ago. Till to Jesus Christ you cling
by a simple faith. Doing is a deadly thing. Doing ends in death. Cast your deadly doings down,
down at Jesus' feet. Stand in Him, in Him alone, gloriously
complete. Now, that song came out of Spurgeon's
Hymnal, and the date they had beside it is 1858. The fellow's
name is James Proctor. But I'm telling you, that's the
whole thing in a nutshell right there. It's either all grace or no grace.