Back to Isaiah fifty five. Isaiah fifty five. For the last
two or three weeks. I've been looking forward to
coming back down here. I think I was down here about
three years ago. And I thoroughly enjoyed myself
when I was down here then. And so I look forward to coming
back down here and I I think the world of your pastor and
his family. I've enjoyed the fellowship that I had with Paul
when he was back at 13th Street, and I thank a lot of him as a
preacher of the gospel, a minister of the gospel. I know and am
confident that you have the gospel preached to you faithfully. I
have no doubt about that. Now Isaiah 55, Isaiah 55, now
this message here, this portion of Scripture is for the
needy. It's for the needy. It's for
thirsty people. It's for people who know they
have a need. They know they have a need of
Christ. They know they have a spiritual need, and they know that it can
only be met by Christ. You see, the book of Isaiah here
has much to do and to say about the Lord Jesus Christ. Some people
have called it the Gospel of the Old Testament. There's much
in Isaiah about the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, you'll find
in Isaiah 53, the gospel provided through the suffering Savior.
I can remember the last time I was down here, that was the
text that I preached from was Isaiah 53. I remember preaching
from that here. And then in Isaiah 54, we find
the gospel promises that are sure and certain. In Isaiah 54,
look over in verse 10 of Isaiah 54. Here are the promises that
are sure and certain. He says, For the mountains shall
depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart
from thee. Neither shall the covenant of
my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. And then look over in verse sixteen.
He says, Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals
in the fire and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work.
I have created the waster to destroy. No weapon, he says,
that is formed against thee shall prosper. No weapon that is formed
against thee shall prosper. And every tongue that shall rise
against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage
of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of
me." Their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. kind of righteousness
I want is that righteousness that is of God. That's an everlasting
righteousness. And then here in Isaiah fifty
five we find the gospel proclaimed to the needy. You know I can
always identify with the messages that reach out to needy people
because I know I'm needy. I know I stand in need every
day of the mercies of the Lord God. And when we proclaim the
gospel, we are proclaiming the mercies of God in Christ to all
who will hear. To all who will hear. Now he
starts out here in Isaiah 55 and verse 1. He starts out and
he says, ho! Now what he's saying here is
stop! It's hard to get people to stop. It's hard to get people
to pay attention to you. And he says here, ho everyone! You see, there is a peculiar
thirst in every believer. In all of God's sheep, there's
a peculiar thirst. Like David said in Psalms, as
the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after
thee, O God. There's a peculiar thirst in
the Lord's people, and it's a most blessed thirst to have. But this
is the kind of thirst that I desire to have. It's a most blessed
thirst to have, and I would to God that I had more of it. I
would to God that I thirsted more after him than I do now.
And this thirst that is spoken of here is not in a natural sense. It's not in a natural sense that
the woman at the well thought. What she thought was, you can
just draw some of this water out of this well here and I won't
thirst again. It's not in a natural sense. This is in a spiritual
sense. It's a thirst for fellowship with God. It's a thirst, it's
a spiritual thirst, it's a thirst to know God, as Paul said there
in Philippians, to know that I might know him, the power of
his resurrection. Now, ever since the fall of Adam,
man has had a thirst. He's had a thirst that he cannot
quench. He can't quench it. What he does,
he can't quench this thirst, this longing, this unrest that
he has in himself now. He can't do it, he can't quench
it. Everything that he does is an effort to fill that void that
was left there when God departed from him. That's what you see
all of religious efforts are for, is to fill that void or
that thirst that's there that was left when God departed from
Adam. and left us when spiritually dead. But when God creates spiritual
life in a man, when he gives life to a man, that man begins
to thirst. He begins to thirst. He begins
to thirst after mercy. He begins to thirst after forgiveness. He begins to thirst after life.
He begins to hunger and thirst After righteousness, our Lord
said, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness,
for they shall be filled. That is a most blessed thirst
to have. The spiritual thirst, this thirsting
is a thirsting to have my sins forgiven. Or to have my sins
forgiven, to have my sins put away. I know that I have done
wrong. I know that. I know that I've
sinned enough this day to send me to hell. I know that. But I know, I know that there's
mercy with the Lord, and I thirst to have that. I thirst to be
a partaker of that. I know that by omission and commission
I have transgressed God's holy law. I know that I deserve His
punishment, but what I want What I thirst after is his divine
favor. That's what I want. That's what
David says over here in Psalm 51. Let me read a little bit
of what David says here. He wants God's divine favor. He says in Psalm 51, verse 1,
Have mercy upon me, O God. According to that loving kindness
according to the multitude that in the mercy brought out my transgressions. All according to your loving
kindness and tender mercy deal with me. Deal with me in that
manner. Deal with me in that way. I want
his favors. You see, there was a time. There
was a time when I thought nothing of God's favor. There was a time
when God was not in any of my thoughts, and I know you can
remember a time when he was not in any of your thoughts at all. But now, now I know, I know that
his favor means everything. His favor means, it means everything. Everything else fades into nothing
in comparison to God's favor, God's mercy in Christ. Who can resist Him and stand? Who can resist Him and stand?
He's almighty. He's almighty. What I want to
be is by His side. I want to be by His side, and
I want to be reconciled to Him through the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's what I want, and that's
what every believer wants. That's what His sheep want, and
that's what He brings them to want. desire his mercy through
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the only way that this thirst
can be quenched, the only way that this thirsting of having
my sins forgiving, of having fellowship with God, the only
way it can be quenched is through the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He said, whoever drinks of this
water will not thirst again. He'll not thirst again. It'll
only be quenched when I drink of his soul-cleansing blood by
faith, when I eat of his flesh, when God enables me to eat of
his flesh and drink of his blood by faith. That's the only time
that this soul thirst can be quenched, is when God enables
me to do that. Then I thirst to have my sin
conquered that dwells in me. I tell you, sin is It's just like a thorn in the
flesh, constantly with you, constantly dragging you down. I sin, I sin
more than I want to, and I sin a whole lot more than I admit
to. I can assure you that. A whole lot more than I admit
to. None of us admit to sinning as much as we do. We sin a whole
lot more than we even realize. There seems to be a world of
iniquity that dwells within us. It just seems to just dwell within
us, and at times it feels like it's going to just drag us down.
It seems like there's going to be no hope or there's no way
out at all. It seems like it's going to just
drag us down. And I thirst to have Christ,
I thirst to have Him to conquer my indwelling sin. Oh, to conquer that indwelling
sin. And he's the only one. He is the only one that can do
it. No preacher can do it. Mom and
dad can't do it. He's the only one that can do
it. It says in the scriptures that he came to conquer the power
of sin and Satan and his people. That's why we're commanded to
look to him. That's why we're commanded to go to him. That's
why he's saying here, for everyone that thirsts to stop and listen
to me. You that are thirsty, you that
are hungry, listen to me," he's saying. I'm the only one who
can deliver you from this. I'm the only one that can quench
this thirst. The only one. That's why we're
commanded in the Scriptures to look to Him. To look to the Lord
Jesus Christ. And then I thirst to know more
of Him. As Paul said there in Philippians,
as I quoted a little bit ago, Or that I might know him, that
I might know him and the power of his resurrection. In other
words, the power of his resurrected life, Paul says, or that I might
know more of Christ. You cannot exhaust a knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't do it. You can't do
it. You know, when I was about 20
years old, I'd made a profession. And to me, what you did then
when you got saved, so-called, you know, You made a profession,
you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, and then you
went on trying to live as best you can. I want to tell you,
a believer's life is spent in knowing Christ. His life is spent
in learning of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said, take my
yoke upon you and learn of me. Learn of me. There's more to be learned of
him than we can comprehend. We haven't even scratched the
surface. of knowing him. We haven't even
began to scratch the surface. And that's what I want. I want
to know, as Paul said there in Philippians 3, I want to know
him. I want to be found in him. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that righteousness which is through
the faith or the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what I want. That's what I thirst and hunger
after. And Christ said those who thirst and hunger after this
They're going to be healed. He promises that you're going
to be healed, you're going to have it, you're going to have
it. More about Jesus would I know. More of his cleansing, blood
that flows. That's what I want. I want to
know more about his divine person, I want to know more about his
righteousness, more about his saving grace, more, more, more
about Christ. I don't want to know more about
do's and don'ts. I mean, I learned enough of that
when I was a kid to last a lifetime. I mean, it was always slapping
you on the head, don't do this and don't do that. And you can
do this and you can't do that. I don't want to know that. I
want to know Him. I want to know Him. And I tell you what, I tell
you a true saving knowledge in union with Christ will lead a
man into what he can do, what he can't do. It will. And then I thirst to
love him more than I do. I'm ashamed to even say I love
him because I know that it's such a weak love. I know that
it's such a weak and pale love in comparison to his love. I've
not gone to the tree for anybody. I have never taken a weapon for
anybody. My love compared to his is very
weak and very insignificant. But I tell you, I would to God
that I could love him more than I do. I know this. I know that if God would enable
me to grow in love to Christ, to love him more, I'll love his
people more. I'll love his people more. It'd
just be an automatic response to it. You'll love his people
more. more than I could love him above
all things, that nothing could rival our love for him, that
nothing would rival it. And you know what he says? You
know what he says to those who have this hunger, who have this
thirst? You know what he says? Come to
me. He says, Come ye to the waters.
That's what he's saying. Come ye to the waters. If any
man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. You know that water, one writer
said this, that water is the simplest, the purest, and the
fittest drink for any thirsty man. Nothing quenches a man's
thirst like water. Nothing. Christ says, come to
him. He's the simplest, the purest,
and the fittest drink for any spiritually thirsty man or woman. Come to the water of life and
drink and live." This is life-giving water. He's speaking here of
life-giving water. Come to the water of life that
cleanses and refreshes the man or woman who comes and drinks
of this water. He says, won't thirst again.
He says, you'll never thirst again. And then note to whom
it's spoken to. I like this. I like this. Note
to whom he's speaking to. He that hath no money. Oh, I like that. He that has
no... I tell you, this really opens
the door wide, doesn't it? Even a rich man can come here.
He can just get rid of his money. It's hard for a poor man to become
rich, but every rich man can become poor. And he says here,
He that has no money, you who have nothing to bring. I mean,
you have nothing to bring, nothing to offer, nothing. You have no means by which to
buy. He said, these are the ones I'm
talking to. And he says, come, come one,
come all. He that has no money, come for
there's plenty. There's plenty. Well, I tell
you, there's plenty. Even if he had two or three fishes
in, it ends up plenty. Plenty. And notice here, he calls
it water. It's not a creek. It's not just
a little old creek flowing here or a ditch. It's an ocean of
infinite grace that he sent come to. It's an ocean of infinite
grace coming to the water. He that has no money, I tell
you this, Rowland Hill said this. Rowland Hill said, when you go
to an auction, I like this. He said the auctioneer tries
to get the people up to the price that they want. He tries to get
them up to the price. He said, but here it's in reverse. You've got to try to get the
people down to the price. No money. You've got to get them
down. One of the first things that
has to happen in the preaching of the gospel is a man has to
come down. You may think you're low, but
you're not nearly as low as you need to be. I tell you, we're not nearly as
low as we think we are. And then he says, Come ye, buy
and eat, yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without
profits. He says you don't need any money. You know why? Because there's
no price on it. You need money for something that has a price
on it. There's no price tag on salvation. There's no price tag
on mercy. It was on Christ. The price tag
was laid on His shoulders. You see, it costs Him. It's free
to me, but it costs Him everything. He's already paid the price.
Now, don't bring your money because there's no price on it. Don't
bring your righteousness. Don't bring your works. Don't
bring your merits. He says it's free. It's free. This wine and milk
here. is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, wine makes
glad the heart, doesn't it? It makes glad the heart. Even
so, Christ makes glad the heart of those who drink of him. He makes glad the heart of those
who drink of him. Those who drink his blood and
eat his flesh by faith are made glad in the inner man. For it
really counts. They're not putting on a show.
They are truly made glad in here in the heart. And milk, he talks about milk
here. Milk has in it all that is necessary to make a person
grow and live from the strongest man to the babe. To the babe. Even so, we feed on Christ and
we find in Him, we find in Christ all we need. I have all the spiritual
blessings that I need in the Lord Jesus Christ in order to
stand before God Almighty. I have it all in Him. I have
it all in Him. And He is suitable for the strongest
believer and the weakest babe. He's suitable for the strongest
believer and the weakest babe. And He's free. He's free to everyone
who comes. Did he ever charge anybody in
reading the Gospels? When you read the Gospels, did
he ever lay a charge on any sinner that ever came to him? He always
gave it to them. He always had mercy on them.
He healed them. He met their needs, and he met
it freely. No charge. You don't find a position
like that nowadays. No charge. And then he asked
a question. He says, why do you spend your
money for that which is not bread? Here he is saying, ho, everyone
that thirsts, he that has no money, come and buy and eat,
buy wine and milk without money, without price. And then he says
here, why do you spend money for that which is not bread?
Why do you spend your time, your energy, your strength, and your
effort for that which does not satisfy? Well, I remember doing
that. I remember we used to, we used
to on, it was like on a Tuesday night, back when I was around
20 years old, we'd go out every Tuesday night, or I think it
was Tuesday night, we'd go witnessing. We'd go knocking on doors, spending
my time, spending my money, spending my effort, spending my energy
for that which was not, I'd lie to them, I didn't know what I
was talking about. Why do you spend your time, your
energy, and your strength with that which does not satisfy?
It doesn't satisfy. Why do you pursue false religions
or false gods? Why do you pursue that which
cannot quench your thirst nor anybody else's? That's what he's
saying. You see, salvation by works is
not bread. It's chaff. It's not good for
you. In fact, it's harmful for you.
It's harmful for you. I tell you this, it would be
better for a person not to even go anywhere than to go to a place
where Christ is not preached. Because what is preached will
only add to your condemnation. It will only damn you if you
follow it. That's the truth. If I was going to go to a place
and eat, I wouldn't go to a place that was not going to serve me
anything that had any good or value to it. I'd go to a place
that served you something that was nourishing. That's why he's
saying here, why do you spend your time and your money and
your efforts for that which satisfies not? Spend it under the gospel. Now listen to what he says here
in verse two. Hearken diligently unto me, and eat that which is
good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. All that you
long for, all that you long for is found in Christ. All that a thirsty sinner longs
for is found in Christ. You shall have all the necessaries
and delights that shall satisfy your soul to the full. You shall not be able, I tell
you, we cannot, we cannot conceive of anything that is more rich
and full than Christ. Can't do it. He says, eat that
which is good. That's Christ. That's Christ. And delight your soul in his
fullness. Incline your ear, he says in
verse two, incline your ear. And come unto me. You see, this
is the gate by which salvation enters a man, the ear gate. It
enters by the ear. And he says here, incline your
ear, bend your ear forward, as to catch every word that I'm
saying. You see, he's saying here, ho, everyone that's thirstiest,
listen to me. He says, give me your ear, bend
your ear forward. Is this asking too much of beggars?
Is this asking? Is giving attention To the gospel
too much to ask of a beggar. Of a guilty sinner of a death
row sinner I tell you what if you don't death row. And it's
getting ready to execute you tomorrow. And someone was talking
to you about pardon and is telling you about how to be pardoned
don't you think you get on the edge of your seat? Don't you
think you'd pay attention? And that's why he's saying here.
Give me your attention. He said here, here, here and
your soul shall live as a body is fed by the mouth. So the soul
is fed by the ear and our Lord. How many times our Lord say this?
He that has ears to hear, let him hear. Let him hear. And note the promise and your
soul, your soul shall live at you, your soul that you. It shall live. There's power
and life in the gospel. Paul said it. It's the power,
it's the dynamite of God unto salvation. There's power in the
preaching of God's word. There's power in the reading
of God's word. There's power in the gospel. All that God has
for sinners is in Jesus Christ. All he has for sinners is in
Christ. And all those spiritual blessings are ours through our
union with the Lord Jesus Christ. every one of them and that union
with Christ comes by faith and faith comes by hearing the word
of God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the word of God and he says and I'll make an everlasting
covenant with you even the sure mercies of David. He hears and
he then inclines his ear and comes to me. He said, I'll make,
he said, I will make an everlasting covenant with you. Even the same
covenant I made with David, which Peter calls the precious promises. He says, I'll make an everlasting
covenant with you. And you know, David on his dying
bed called this all my salvation and all my desire. Let me give
you just five points of that everlasting covenant that he
said he'll make with you. First of all, in Jeremiah, I
won't turn there, I've got these written down, but in Jeremiah
31 he says, I will be their God and they shall be my people.
That's a promise. That's a sure mercy. They shall
all, he said, they shall all know me from the least to the
greatest. They shall all know me. And I will forgive their iniquities
and remember their sins no more. That's a sure mercy of David.
And I'll give them one heart and one way. I'll give them one heart and
one way. Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. We have one Lord, one faith,
and one baptism. And then he says, I will not,
I will not turn away from them, and they shall not depart from
me. Now that's the covenant that
he's speaking of. He says, I'll make a covenant
with you, even the sure mercies of David, and that's it. That's
it. And then in verse four, This
everlasting covenant, he makes it with our surety. This is why
it's sure. David said, it's ordered in all
things and sure. The reason why and the reason being is because
he made that covenant with Christ. You see here, it says in verse
four, behold, I've given him for a witness to the people,
a leader and commander to the people. This everlasting covenant
is made with our surety, that great shepherd of the sheep,
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord has given Christ for
a witness, that is to say, a prophet. A prophet who manifests and reveals
the Father. He's given him for that. He also
is called a leader here, for he's our great high priest after
the order of Melchizedek, and he's our shepherd who leads us
in paths of righteousness, and he's our commander in that he's
our Lord of Lords and King of Kings. He's the one who rules
over all things. Speaking here of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And verse 5 tells us that this one, the Lord Jesus
Christ here, who is the leader and commander, is not going to
fail. He's not going to fail. Behold,
thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations
that knew not thee shall run unto thee. He's telling us here
that he is not going to fail. Christ shall not fail. He shall
call and save a multitude of sinners out of every kindred,
tribe, and tongue, and nation under heaven that was given to
him. He's going to call them, and
they're going to be saved. They shall willingly run after
him. You see that? It says, Behold,
thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations
that knew not thee shall run unto thee. He's going to be willing
to run after him. people shall be willing in the
day of our power. They said there in verse six,
are you thirsty? Are you poor? Have you inclined
your ear and heard? Then he says, then seek the Lord
while you may be found. What is it to seek the Lord?
Well, it's to discover I don't have Him and I need Him. That's
what it is. It's to discover that I stand
in great need, in great need of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
to desire and seek His mercy through Christ. It is to be willing
to be saved by His terms. That's what the Pharisees wouldn't
do. They were not going to be saved on his terms. They were
going to be saved on their terms. But it's to be saved on his terms
that he might be just and justifier. And it's to forsake all my ways
and seek his. Seek his way. And then he says
to those who have come to that point, he says, seek ye the Lord
while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he's near.
He said, let the wicked forsake his way. Our way is the way of
unrighteousness. Our thoughts, our thoughts of
God and the way of salvation is not like his thoughts. Like
Naaman, you remember the story of Naaman. Naaman went out and
Elijah told him to go dip seven times and he said, I thought,
I thought you were going to come out here and do some hocus pocus
over me. I thought you were going to All he did was just say, you
go to the River Jordan and dip seven times. Our ways are not
his ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts. We don't think
like he thinks. Not by nature, we don't. And
we can be sure of this. As the rain and as the snow comes
down from heaven to water it, because he says here in verse
10, as the rain comes down And the snow from heaven returns
not thither, but waters the earth, and makes it to bring forth and
bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth. It shall not return to me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereunto I send it." Just as the rain
and the snow accomplish the purpose of God. Even so, shall his word
be that goes forth out of his mouth. It's going to accomplish,
it'll accomplish that which he sent forth. And you know what
that's for? The salvation of his sheep and
the glory of his son. He said it's going to accomplish
it. It may look like, you know, you may go to a place and there's
a real small number and it may look to you like that his word
is not accomplishing much of anything. But I can assure you,
it is accomplishing everything that he sent to accomplish. Everything. It's accomplishing. He said,
the word that goes out of my mouth is going to accomplish
the purpose for which I sent it, which is the salvation of
my sheep. He says there in 12 and 13, I'll
close. 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 thorn shall come
up the fir tree. Instead of the briar 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." God's
people are going to go out of bondage with joy and be led forth
in peace without fear of ever being retaken. We don't have to fear of ever
falling back into bondage. or being retaken by Satan. It's
not going to happen. Even creation itself is going
to rejoice in that day. Now that's why he says, Ho, everyone
that thirsts, stop and listen to me. He says, I've got something
to tell you. To the thirsty and to the needy, he says, I've got
something to tell you. I've got good news. I have good news for
those who are thirsty and those who are hungry and those who
are needy. He says, I've got good news. Well, I pray that
the Lord will bless that message to you. Come and lead us in another
closing song. Let's turn to 125. Jesus paid
it off. Sing the first, second, and the
fourth. One twenty five Jesus paid you the first second and
the fourth and remember the service at six o'clock this afternoon. I hear the neighbors say, lies
break and deed is small. Shall I believe them, what they
say? Find in me that I'll know. Come to hear my own. Green and clear the crimson flame,
His heart is white as snow. For now indeed I find my paradise
alone, Can change the blackbird's spot and melt the heart of stone. He has made it all, all to Him
I owe. Sin hath left a prince unsaved,
He watched it quiet and slow. And with me for the throne, I
stand in tears complete. Thank you, and you're dismissed. Thank you.