O every one that thirsteth, come
ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and
eat. Yea, come, buy wine and milk,
without money and without price. Wherefore do you spend money
for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which
satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto
me. Here and your soul shall live,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure
mercies of David." This is the word of God to everyone that
thirsteth in Isaiah 55, the first three verses. to everyone that
thirsteth, not for the waters or things of this world, material
things, but the water of life. As David, the sweet psalmist
of Israel, said, My soul thirsteth for God. for the living God. He said, My soul thirsteth for
God, my flesh longeth for God in a dry and thirsty land where
no water is. Do you know anything about this
thirst? Do you long to know the true
and living God? Do you thirst for truth? Are
you tired of lies? Are you tired of man's opinions,
thoughts? Has religion made you sick with
all its money-making schemes, all its fleshly entertainment,
all of its obviously fake and phony facade of worship and praise,
when it's just a show, just a big show like a circus or a concert? Well, the Scripture says, Come
ye, ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. God's
Word is these waters. The water of God's Word is for
drinking. It's for thirst. Revelation 22,
17 says, Let him that is of thirst come. Whosoever will, let him
take the water of life freely. God's Word, truth, is there for
the asking, for the seeking, for the taking. Christ is the
water. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
water of life. He said this in John chapter
7. It says, In the last day, that great day of the feast,
when everyone was coming back from Jerusalem and found nothing
to satisfy their souls, to satisfy them, they found nothing but
a facade of religion. Religion going through the motions,
going through the ceremonies, going through the outward form.
And Jesus stood and cried saying, If any man thirst, let him come
unto Me. and drink. He that believeth
on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water." Christ said, if any man thirst,
let him come unto Me. Not to religion, not to the church,
but to Me. In John chapter 4, the Lord,
He came to this well, the well of Jacob. He was sitting on a
well when in fact He is the well. But He came. There's a woman
who came to Him. He had her brought to Him. This
is a woman He loved before the world began, chose before the
world began, and He purposed this meeting, this moment in
time where she would meet Him and He would impart to her the
Word of life, the water of life. This woman was one who others
shunned, but He loved. This woman was a sinner, a forlorn
woman, been married five times. And in John chapter 4 verse 7
it says, She came to draw water, and Jesus saith unto her, Give
me to drink. The woman said unto him, How
is it that you, being a Jew, ask drink of me, which am a woman
of Samaria? The Jews have no dealings with
Samaritans. But Jesus answered and said unto
her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is, that saith
to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and
he would have given thee living water. The woman said unto him,
Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. From
whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than
our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof
himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and
said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the
water that I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that
I shall give him shall be in him, a well of water springing
up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, give
me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw."
Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.
The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said
unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband, for thou hast
had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband. In that saidst thou truly. The woman said unto him, Sir,
I perceive perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshiped
in this mountain, and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place
where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain
nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship ye know
not what. We know what we worship, for
salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now
is. When true worshipers shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to
worship Him. God is a spirit, and they that
worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. The woman
saith unto Him, I know that Messiah is cometh, which is called Christ,
When He has come, He will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto
her, I that speak unto thee am. Christ is the water of life.
Christ came to this woman and created in her a thirst, a thirst
for something she knew not, a thirst for something she had not, a
thirst for something which Christ alone must and could give, and
He did. He gave her Himself, the water
of life. Christ is the water. Christ is
the water. And so Isaiah cries in our text
in Isaiah 55, O everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. He that hath no money, the scripture
says, come ye, buy and eat. Salvation is a free gift. It's
not by works. It's a gift. It's not by your
own conversation or life or what you do for God, but it's by grace. Come ye, he says, buy and eat. Yea, come. Buy wine and milk
without money and pride. Well, you say, Preacher, it says
buy. I thought it was free. Why does
he say buy? Well, this is buy as it were
on credit. Another's credit. Have you ever
bought something on credit and someone else must pay for it? That's this salvation. It cost
someone else dearly. It cost the Lord Jesus Christ
everything. It cost Him His very life. The Lord Jesus Christ paid salvation's
price. The Lord Jesus Christ paid the
penalty for sin. The wages of sin is death. The
soul that sinneth shall surely die. Jesus Christ paid that price,
not for all. No, sir. Jesus Christ didn't
come into this world to make an offer of salvation to anyone
that would accept it. No, sir. It doesn't say that
in the Bible. Jesus Christ did not come here to pay for the
sins of all people in the world. No, sir. If that were so, everyone
would be saved. Because Jesus Christ's blood
put away the sin of whoever He died for. But He did that for
some. Yea, many. Those who believe. The scriptures describe them
as those who believe. But that's not a price we pay. That's not of ourselves. Even
that's the gift. All whom God chose and gave to
Christ Christ died for and they will believe. They do believe. The Spirit of God moves upon
them and they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how
you know who Christ died for. Those who believe. They believe
by grace. They believe by a gift of God. They believe not by free will,
but by free grace. They believe not of their own
power and volition and will, but by the power and the miracle
working grace of God in the life of a dead sinner. Now, the Lord
Jesus Christ is the Redeemer, the One who bought, who paid
for, who redeemed His people. His people were sold to sin,
sold to Satan, sold to themselves, sold lock, stock and barrel to
this world. They had sold their souls to
sin. In the Old Testament is a book
called Hosea, the prophet Hosea. And in that is a story of God
telling the prophet Hosea to go marry a woman of whoredoms. Yes, a harlot, an adulterous
woman. And the Scripture says this picture
is the Lord's love for His people. Another picture, another of many
pictures throughout the Old Testament of how the Lord Jesus Christ
came to redeem His people, the Redeemer, the great Redeemer,
of lost sinners. He came to earth sent by the
Father, like the great shepherd to find his lost sheep. He came
to find his lost, forlorn bride who, like this woman in the story
of Hosea, whose name was Gomer, had sold herself to the world. She lived for, she loved the
world, the things of the world, the people of the world. She
loved herself. And she thought that the world
and the people and the things were her lovers. She thought
they gave to her all that she had. In our own modern vernacular
or way of saying things, people say, I sure am lucky. Well, she
thought the world and these things gave her pleasure, gave her things,
but when the Lord all along, it was the Lord who was caring
for her, the Lord who was watching over her, providing for her.
Then, after a time, in God's good time, in God's goodness
to her, to bring her, in Hosea it says, I will discover her
lewdness to her. I will discover her nakedness
to her. I'll bring her to the point where
she sees herself for what she really is, a forlorn, adulterous
woman who has sold herself to things and other people. And
her name was Gomer. She's all used up now. She's
poor and needy. She's ugly because of sin. Ugly
to herself. Unappealing to anyone else. Guilty,
vile, helpless, hopeless, on the auction block. And Hosea,
who represents the Lord Jesus Christ, comes along and says,
I'll buy her. I'll purchase her." So he did.
He bought her. He purchased her for himself.
That's who the Lord Jesus Christ came for. That's what the Lord
Jesus Christ did for his people. Like Jacob who worked fourteen
years for Rachel, his bride, the Lord Jesus Christ lived thirty-three
years. here for his people, satisfying
the law of God on their behalf as their substitute, as their
covenant head. Second Adam from above who lived
perfectly according to the law because his bride did not. She
did not. And he glorified God and then
the penalty The price that sin must be paid is death. Christ went to the cross and
paid for all the sins of all of God's people. And all of God's
people shall be saved. And then He rose from the grave,
proof of that payment. Proof that payment was accepted
by God. And He ever lives to ensure that
they all come home. Well, he says, come, buy wine
and milk. Wine. Scripture doesn't forbid
it, but rather commends it. Jesus Christ drank it. Paul urged
Timothy to use it. Wine represents the blood of
Christ. Medicinal, nutritious, calming,
soothing, making glad the heart, the blood, the redemption that's
in Christ. And milk, yes, that's the Word
of God. The milk of God's Word. What
babes are born loving and needing. Come ye, buy wine and milk without
money and price. come ye. Oh, may you hear this
word. Amen.