Let's read together Isaiah chapter 55. Isaiah chapter 55. Oh, everyone 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 your 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. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people. a leader and commander to the people. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God and for the Holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified thee. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye 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. 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. or as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth and maketh it 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 unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the things whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace. The mountains and the hills shall break 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." Now hold your hands right here in Isaiah 55 and follow with me through the scriptures. This is a very remarkable chapter.

These 13 verses that we have read form one of the most tender-hearted, compassionate, earnest pleas for sinners to come to God and obtain mercy that you'll find anywhere in the Bible. They hold before us a brief but a very earnest, compassionate message, a sermon, if you will, by which sinners are called to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But the preacher is not a man. The preacher is God himself. God himself condescends to speak to folks like you and me and not only invite us, but reason with us and urge us with many arguments to come to him in repentance and faith that we may obtain mercy.

When I read this chapter, my mind just automatically goes back to the first time a sinner was sought by God. The Lord God, in the very day when Adam and Eve sinned against him and plunged our race into utter depravity and sin, came seeking Adam, walking in the garden as he always had in the cool of the day, seeking his friend Adam. And he called unto Adam, Where art thou? And he found Adam that he might obtain mercy so that Adam might obtain mercy from the Lord God, that he might bestow upon Adam all the goodness and mercy which Adam had forfeited and that he might free Adam from the fear of death and judgment, which he fully deserved.

So here, the Lord God comes to us. in this message and he seeks out sinners who will not seek him. He calls sinners who will not call upon him. And he reasons with sinners who find excuses for unbelief to justify their unbelief and urges us to obey his voice and to repent of our sins. And I've entitled this message, God's Own Gospel Message. because here the Lord God stoops to preach the gospel to perishing sinners who deserve his wrath. I'm not going to preach tonight, I'm just going to give you God's message and I'm going to highlight seven points in the message, seven things that are distinctly set before us by God himself in these 13 verses. So you just follow along and we'll stay right here in Isaiah 55. In verse 1, The Lord God gives us a free and gracious invitation, an invitation to sinners. A free and gracious invitation to sinners.

Oh, everyone that thirsteth. Are you thirsty? He says, everyone that thirsteth, not for this kind of water, but for living water. The analogy is to water because water is purified, and water is refreshing, and water is invigorating, and water is that which revives and renews. He says, everyone that's thirsty, come ye to the waters.

Come on. Come on. Just a free invitation. Come to the waters. He that hath no money, come ye buy and eat. Yea, come buy wine and milk. without money and without price. God calls sinners who are thirsty to come to the waters and those who are hungry to come and get bread. That signifies nourishment, nourishment for life. If you're hungry for life with God. Hungry for life. Come on, he says, come and eat.

You ever been hungry? I remember several years ago, if you've ever been hungry, you'll know exactly what it is. You won't forget it. I don't look like I've ever been hungry in my life, but there was a time when I was real hungry. I was in college my first year. I simply couldn't afford to eat but one meal a day and then only five or six times a week. And I got hungry and I stayed hungry most of the time. I lost a bunch of weight. I got plump skinny. I look, I look like I needed to put on some weight. I'm not lying. I just, I just, I was hungry.

One of the happiest days of my experience in college, I went to work one day, worked as a janitor in a hospital, and they said, we're going to put you in a restaurant. And the fellow who asked me to take care of cleaning up the restaurant, he said, you can have all you want to eat the leftover stuff. We have to throw it away. Man, I enjoyed working in that restaurant for a few weeks.

I'm hungry. Here the Lord speaks of spiritual hunger, bread, bread necessary for life and nourishment. Are you hungry? He's coming in. You read about him. He is the bread of life. He's coming to eat. Come on. You don't have to have anything but hunger. Come and eat. You don't have to have anything but thirst. Come and drink.

He offers wine. Wine is the symbol of joy. And he says to the mourner, come and get some wine and be joyful. He offers milk, the symbol of strength and satisfaction and consolation. And he says to weak and weary, disconsolate souls, come and get some milk.

Are you in need? He says, come on, come on. Now, this is an offer of all things that are needful, of eternal salvation and free grace in Jesus Christ without cost, without condition and without qualification. What do I have to do? Nothing. What do I have to give? Nothing.

Just come on. Just come on. It is a call to faith, not to work. It is a call to a banquet, not to a kitchen. It's a call to Christ, not to a ritual or a ceremony. The Lord God just freely, just freely throws open the doors of mercy and says, come on in. You mean preacher I can come in? Come on in. You mean without any, without any qualifications that I have to meet, without any prerequisites, without any conditions, without offering anything, the doors open. God says, come on in, come on in.

I hope you like stories. I, I read a story about a newspaper boy in Chicago years and years ago when fellows used to walk the street selling newspapers. I used to do it myself. But this boy sold newspapers in a large city in Chicago, just a young fellow.

And one day he was walking down the street and he came to the house of a businessman who was very wealthy. He was a very successful businessman. Lowry, I believe was his name. And he saw that man's huge house. You can just picture this little old street urchin. He saw that house and his mind just began to wonder about that house. And before he realized it, he's standing on the front porch ringing the doorbell. And Mr. Lowry came to the doors on Sunday morning, his wife getting ready to go out to church.

Little boy looked up at him, he said, Mr., do you have any children? He's got his newspapers in his hand, but he said, you got any children? And the man said, no, my wife and I can't have any children. He said, mister, I sure wish I was your boy. I sure wish I was your boy. I could live in this house, play in this yard. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

He said, mister, would you like to have a son? And Mr. Lowry said, well, I suppose I would. I hadn't thought much about it recently. And about that time, his wife coming down the stairs, those gorgeous, Elegant stares she walks down. He said honey Got a boy here wants to know if you'd like to have a son. She said I sure would And the story went on he said son. Where are your parents? He said ain't got any He said son where do you live? He said live in the streets He said where do you sleep? He said sleep in the streets He said honey sure enough would you like to have a son?

And the boy looked up, he said, oh, Mr. Lowry, if you'd let me be your son, I'd give you everything I've got. He said, well, what have you got? He said, these newspapers. He pulled out his pocket, had a little change, got this. Mr. Lowry and his wife looked at one another. He said, son, you come on in. I've got enough of both of us. And I'm telling you, that's what God says to sinners. Come on in. Without anything. I got enough for all of you. Come on in.

He says, come and get everything you need in my son, the Lord Jesus. And then in verses two and three, here's something even more remarkable. Not only does the Lord invite sinners to come, but he offers arguments, persuasive arguments for faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse two, he says, wherefore do you spend your 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." How does he persuade sinners to come?

He says, what you're spending all your time and energy and effort on will never satisfy you. There's no satisfaction out here. There's no satisfaction in this world. The horrible fiasco with OJ Simpson and his former wife this past week. that you know don't matter what you got. It don't matter how successful you are. It don't matter how high up the ladder you climb. It don't matter how much you possess. There's no satisfaction here. No satisfaction for a man's soul. No satisfaction for a man who's made for eternity.

I have a friend who's going out to Las Vegas to establish a church out there doing missionary work in Las Vegas. They say the suicide rate in that town is so horrendous, it's just absolutely mind-boggling. The casinos are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks every year, never close the doors. 4 o'clock in the morning, 4 o'clock in the afternoon, it don't matter, they're packed. But everybody there is miserable. Everybody. there's no satisfaction. All this temporary smile, a temporary fleeting moment of laughter, but no satisfaction, and folks just one after another commit suicide.

There was a nobleman who was an acclaimed literary man, Lord Byron. He was in his day A man who just received accolade on top of accolade on top of accolade. Folks praised him everywhere, admired him for his great literary work, his poetry and so on. One time he wrote a verse about himself. This man, the whole world admired. This man, the whole world is praised. This man who just had it all going. He was a nobleman.

He said, my days are in the yellow leaf. The flowers and fruits of love are gone. The worm, the canker, and the grief are mine alone. How sad. But there's nothing here to satisfy you. You keep reaching for it, and you keep grabbing for it, and you keep laboring for it, but you'll never find anything to satisfy you. Jay Gould, in his day was the richest man in the world. He was a railroad tycoon. One time he was passing through Texas and he wrote this down. Somebody picked it up. He said, I suppose I'm the most miserable man in the world.

But you've got everything. Why men give their lives to get what you've got. No satisfaction here. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which satisfies not? Oh, there's no satisfaction here. But in Christ, there is complete satisfaction.

Everything you need. Everything you need to satisfy the demands of your conscience. The longings of your heart, the cravings of your soul, everything you need to meet God Almighty and dwell forever in the bliss of God's presence is in Jesus Christ the Lord. Everything. Everything. If you have Him, you have everything. If you don't have Him, you got nothing. The Lord says, hearken diligently. Listen now.

Eat that which is good. I don't know wild earth else to choose rottenness rather than something good. This is what's good. Let your soul delight itself in fatness, incline your ear, listen, and come to me here and your soul shall live. And I'll make with you an everlasting covenant, even the sure mercies of David. the Lord God says now if you'll just incline you'll hear come to me if you'll just listen to me and your soul lives I will cause you to inherit and possess all the blessedness of the everlasting covenant of grace all the sure mercies of David that is all the sure mercies of my son the son of David the Redeemer who is to come they're described in Ephesians 1 he says you come to me and I'll give you everything Come on, I won't withhold anything. There's not one blessedness, not one, not one grace, not one, not one bliss, not one thing that your soul needs or your soul can profit by that I withhold from you. Come to me. I'll give it all to you. Then in verses four and five, the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of God, is presented as a savior who can never fail. Behold, I've given him. Christ is the gift of God.

We couldn't earn him. We couldn't deserve him. We couldn't influence him to come, but God gave him. Oh, thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. If you ever get him, it's because God gives him to you. God gave him. He said, I've given him. I've given him for a witness to the people. This one who is the gift of God is the revelation of God almighty. He's the word. He's the one who alone has seen God and declares Him to men. I've given Him to testify to men who and what I am.

I've given Him to you that you might know me. He says, and nations that knew thee not, I'm sorry, I've given him to be a witness to the people and leader and commander to the people. I've given him to be your ruler. I've given him to direct you to be your prophet, your priest and your king.

And then he speaks to Christ himself. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not. He came to his own, and his own received him not, but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. And nations that knew not thee, the Gentile pagan nations of the world, shall run to thee. They shall run to thee because of the Lord thy God. God's given him a people, a people whom he must save. Other sheep I have, them also I must bring, he says. They'll run to you because of the Lord thy God.

And for the Holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified thee. He's given you all glory, all preeminence, all honor, that you might gather flesh, men and women of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue unto him. Now look at verses six and seven. Hear the Lord God issues to you and me sinful men and women who set our backs against him. who've turned and gone everyone to his own way, who will not hearken to him, who will not hear his voice, who will not be entreated by his grace. He gives to you and me a call to repentance with a promise of complete pardon. Seek ye the Lord. Seek ye. Seek ye. What do you mean, seek the Lord, Don? There was a farmer years and years ago, in the fall, he got all his crops in, took them to the market, got his money. He came home, diddlin' around out in the barn.

That evening, suppertime, he and his wife sittin' down, he started to reach for his wallet, and it was gone. He had lost that wallet in that barn. And he got up from the table, went out and started looking for it. He didn't find it. Got a little panicky, you know, how you would, and he just started taking everything out. And finally, after spending the evening searching for it, he found his wallet. Sometime later, he began to be concerned about his soul and his wife being a believer. He asked her, what he should do, and she said, seek the Lord. He said, what do you mean? She said, seek him with all your heart. He said, well, how am I going to find him? She said, you seek him just exactly like you saw for your wallet. You'll find him. You'll find him.

Seek the Lord while he may be found. That means don't rest till you get him. Don't be satisfied with anything less than Jesus Christ the Lord. Call ye upon Him while He's near. Reach out and touch the Lord as He passes by. The blind Bartimaeus heard Jesus of Nazareth was passing his way, and he cried, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. That woman with the issue of blood heard the Lord Jesus was coming her way, and she said, if I can just touch the hem of his garment, immediately I'll be made whole. And she was determined she'd touch him. That's what it means to seek him. Don't be satisfied with anything but Christ, and don't let him pass you by. Call ye upon him while he is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way. That's what repentance is. We've turned everyone to his own way. The Lord says you forsake your way. You forsake that way that seemeth right unto a man. The ends thereof are the ways of death. You forsake your imaginary way of righteousness. You forsake your way of rebellion. And the unrighteous man, let him forsake his thoughts. That's tough to do.

You remember what Naaman said when he came to Elijah? Elijah told him, if you want to be healed of your leprosy, go out and dip in the river Jordan seven times. He said, but I thought you would have to forsake your thoughts. Forsake your thoughts. You thought you could do this. You thought you could do that. You thought you could get to God this way, that way.

Let the unrighteous man forsake his thoughts. And let him return unto the Lord. Now listen. And he will have mercy upon you. He sure enough will. He sure enough will. And to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. He'll so fully, completely forgive your sin that He will never deal with you on account of your sin. He'll so freely and fully forgive your sin through Jesus Christ's shed blood and perfect righteousness that he will never deal with you in wrath or anger or punishment because of sin, but rather will deal with you as one who is perfectly righteous and has never sinned, giving you complete pardon and perfect righteousness through Christ the Lord. Now in verses 8, 9, and 10, the Lord God shows himself to be a God who is infinite in grace, wisdom, and power. Notice the first word in verse 8.

Sometimes we kind of skip over the small little words, for. He's offering a reason why you ought to come to God. He's saying for. As the rain are for as my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my way saith the Lord. This is reason for you to forsake your ways. You got to come my way. I'm inviting you to come and obtain mercy. I'm inviting you to come and obtain grace.

I'm calling on you to call on me for my ways are not your ways and my thoughts are not your thoughts. is referring to His grace and the infinite superiority of His grace. In verses 8 and 9, God refers to His infinite wisdom, His thoughts and His ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. God's ways of grace are not the way we would think grace would be.

We all presume that in order to obtain grace from God, you've got to work for it. That's man's nature. Every man by nature presumes that somehow grace cannot be absolutely free. You've got to be baptized, or you've got to be in the church, or you've got to take the Lord's table, or you've got to do, or you've got to be, or you've got to say.

No. He said, my ways are not your ways. Grace is free. Free. I mean, you can't, you can't bribe God for it and you can't buy it from him. You cannot put God in your debt. Grace is free. My thoughts, my ways, they're not your thoughts. They're not your ways. And God's ways of providence.

Our way would lead to destruction. Our way would ruin us. If God let us do things our way, we'd soon be in a miserable way. But God rules the world His way. Aren't you glad God always has His way? Sometimes we sit around and murmur and complain and we whine and we feel sorry for ourselves and we gripe about God's ways, and we doubt God's goodness, and we doubt God's wisdom. Oh, God forgive our foolish unbelief. His ways are always the right way, always the best way, the good way.

And then he explains something of the infinite mystery of it. In verse 10, for as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither. Well, kindly does, but you don't see it. You don't perceive it with your eyes. But watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sober, and bread to the eater.

I remember several years ago being down in Mexico and one of the men down there, Brother Roberto, he and his wife, Carmelita, live right out in the middle of that area above San Cristobal where all the guerrilla warfare has just recently been taking place. We were up there on his ranch. They called it a ranch there. It's just a farm out in the middle of the jungle.

But he raises coffee and corn, stuff like that, and he's got a huge turbo pump that he uses to irrigate the place. Huge thing, just right up on top of the mountain, pushing water all over the farm. But he said to me one day, Milton was translating, he said, we were talking about raising corn and stuff, he said, you know, pointing to his irrigation fields, he's got water, it's ground all day long, all day long.

But if God sends one shower, That one shower do more than all my water do. He just, he's infinitely above us. And he here talks about sending the rain. The rain that causes the ground, that barren, dry, parched ground to bring forth and bud and give you bread and food. That's God's way. It's God's way. If he withholds the rain, The water you use to irrigate the fields soon dry up, but He sends the rain, and He sends the storms, and sometimes you think, it looks like this is not the time, this is too much, this is too little. God knows exactly what He's doing, exactly what He's doing. Now in that background, it comes to verse 11, and here declares that His Word The gospel of his grace is a word that's always effectual. So again, that refers back to verse 10.

So shall my word be just like the rain that descends from heaven. I send it here. I send it there. Send it over yonder. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void. But it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

The word of grace goes out of God's mouth. Oh, I hope you hear God speak tonight. Paul wrote to Thessalonians and said, Our word came to you as the word of God. You received it in power and demonstration of the spirit, not just the word of a man. comes out of God's mouth.

And when God speaks, he says, my word never goes out without a purpose. And whatever that purpose is, that's what it'll do. It'll never return to me void, but it shall accomplish my pleasure and it shall prosper to accomplish exactly the thing where to I sent it.

Sometimes it is a word of judgment. And a word of condemnation. Sometimes it hardens. Oh, but often by God's blessing. It's a word of mercy. And a word to break and melt your heart. And a word to produce repentance in you. God says whatever it is, when I send out my word, don't you fret about this. It'll accomplish what I purposed. Now in verses 12 and 13, Frankly, when I first read these two verses preparing this message, I've read them many times, and every time I've read them, I've had the same thought. How on earth do these two verses fit? They just don't fit in. They just don't fit in. But I knew better than that. That's because my ways and my thoughts are not his ways and his thoughts. I knew better. They do fit in. But how do they fit in?

Well, in verses 12 and 13, The Lord God describes a blessedness that only faith can understand. I think if you can put your mark by these two verses and write out somewhere beside it, this quotation from Paul, the joy of faith. That's just exactly what he's talking about here. Now listen to what he says.

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 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. What does all that mean?

Hold your hands here and turn to Hosea. Hosea chapter 2. Verse 18. What that means is grace makes a person's environment a joy to him. That's what it means. In verse 18 of Hosea 2, In that day will I make a covenant for them with the beast of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground, and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and I will make them to lie down safely. That's what it means.

Oh, when God comes to a center in grace, God gives that center a world for his good. And that world which is a curse to others is a blessing to him. And that which causes others misery causes him joy. Grace makes the curse to be a blessing. Instead of the thorn in the briar shall come up the fir tree and the myrtle tree. The thorn in the briar is a curse. But God says, I want to make it profitable to you.

Martin Luther, when he spoke of the fall of our father Adam, made this statement in two words. Happy fall. Happy fall. How could you say that? Well, Lindsay, we've got far greater blessedness now in Christ than Adam could ever have had had he never fallen. Oh, happy fall. Happy are we that God in his wise providence allowed our father Adam and all our fathers and all us to experience what we've experienced of His free grace and redeeming love and saving power. And all of this is for the glory of God, for the name of the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

I think I've got a pretty good story that will illustrate and explain verses 12 and 13. I looked this up right before services. I remember hearing on tape Brother Roth Barnard tell about a man who was in one of the churches he pastored. Tell him the name of Brother Burke. Let me just read what Barnard said. He said way back yonder when I was a pastor We had a testimony meeting often and every time old brother Burke would get up, I knew what he was going to say.

He had never been to school. He was in his late 70s. He'd always get a little better every time he gave his testimony and it blessed our hearts. He'd get up and tell us about his experience of grace. He'd hold on to the bench and he'd say, brothers and sisters, you know, I was the meanest man that ever was. I can't thank my Lord enough for what he's done for me. He was still rejoicing in the Lord.

He said, I lived in the country, I married and had a little farm and they had meetings on Saturday and Sunday once a month. There wasn't anywhere else to go, so I always went to the meetings. On Saturday morning, the preacher preached and he insulted me. He just stood there and every time he opened his mouth, he looked right at me and he just called me everything but a gentleman. It was pitiful how he abused me.

I went out of there that morning and I said, if it wasn't against the law, I'd kill him, so help me God. That night my wife was feeling poorly and she said, you go on to the meeting tonight, I can't go. I said, I ain't going up there. But the time came and I went.

As I walked along, I said to myself, if that preacher says one word about me tonight, I'll get up out of my seat and I'll give him the licking of his life. I went and took my seat and after a while, the preacher got up and he started in exactly the place where he left off that morning. Only got him a sack of salt and every time he cut me open, he'd pour in salt. I sat there and screamed and cussed under my breath. Then I began to listen to him. Oh, if he'd just get somebody to listen.

It wasn't long, I got up, ran down the aisle and said, Preacher, for God's sake, shut up and let me talk. He shut up and I went up there and I put my arms around him and told that, around that preacher and I said, I love you better than anybody I ever saw. And I told him how the Lord had saved him. And then after the handshaking, finally he was going down the country lane.

It was a starlit night. And he said, you know, the birds never sang so sweet. I'd never heard anything like it. Every last one of them had their voices changed since I heard them. Every bird in the tree said, glad you're saved, Brother Burke, glad you're saved. I looked up at the stars and every one of them was winking at me and saying, hallelujah, Brother Burke, glad you're saved. Every bell in heaven rang when God saved me. Come to Christ and listen for the bells in heaven to ring and the bells of this world to ring for your blessedness in Christ the Lord. That's God's own gospel message. Will you believe it? God helped you to believe it.