Isaiah 55, beginning with verse
1. We read, Ho everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters. He that hath no money, come ye
buy and eat. Yea, come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. Ho everyone that thirsteth. We
see right away. And Isaiah speaks to a particular
people here. It's not just everyone. It's
everyone that thirsts. And this thirst, it's not a natural
thirst by any means. It's a spiritual thirst. Turn
over to John chapter 4. beginning with verse 7 of John
chapter 4. There cometh a woman of Samaria
to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, Give me
to drink. For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy
meat. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is this
that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which is a woman
of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
Jesus answered, and said unto her, If thou knowest the gift
of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink,
thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given to thee
living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir,
thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. From whence
hast thou this living water? Art thou greater than our father
Jacob, which gave us this well? drank thereof himself and his
children and his cattle, Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever
drinketh 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 command for those that are
thirsty. Come ye to the waters." Revelation 22, 17, the Spirit
and the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say,
Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let
him take for the water of life freely. John 7, 37, in that last
day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, Let him come unto me and drink."
Now, who are these that are told to come? Back to our text, back
to Isaiah 55. It says, He that hath no money,
to him that is poor and needy, to him that the Lord has revealed
that he's poor and needy. If you're poor and needy, you
have nothing. You have nothing at all. No longer holding on
to your works, no longer holding on to the law. Nothing in, the hymn writer said,
nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I'll cling. What is this thirsty man to do?
This man that's poor and needy. He says, come ye buy, eat, come
buy wine and milk without money and without price. What's the
sinner to do? He's to come and buy and eat
without money, without price. How is that? How can he do that? Well, it's paid for. It's free. John mentioned a couple of weeks
ago, he said, we love free stuff. We go running with our hands
out for everything, but not salvation. Oh, we don't want free salvation.
We want our works to pay for. We want our deeds. We want our
doing. But that's not where salvation is to be found. Mephibosheth. He sat at the king's table. He was brought, he was sat there,
and he ate as one of the king's sons. Joseph's brother. You remember when their father
sent them down there to buy corn. They loaded up their sacks with
money and they went down. to Egypt to buy corn. When they
got back, the money had been put back in their sacks. It's free. It's free. It's already
been paid for. And listen, we can't pay for
it. We don't have the funds to pay
for it. We don't have what it takes to pay for salvation. It's free. It's paid for by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 3.24. being justified
freely, freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. Back to verse 2 of our text.
Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently
unto me, ee that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness. Why do you spend time and money
for that which does not satisfy? We seek the things of this world
which are not to be had. Why do we try to obtain a righteousness
by the works of the law, which again cannot be, it cannot be
attained that way. All that labor, it's vain. It's vain. There's no satisfaction
to be enjoyed. There's no comfort. There's no
solid food there. It's like the, it's like the
husk that pigs eat. Just like when, remember the
prodigal son? After he'd spent all he had,
he sat down there and he ate the husk with those pigs. And he come to himself. He came
to his senses. He was brought to his senses.
Turn to Luke 15. Luke chapter 15, verse 17, beginning of verse
17. When he came to himself, he said, how many hired servants
of my father's have bread enough to spare? And I perish with hunger. I will arise and go to my father.
And I will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven
and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
Make me as one of thy hired servants." You know, he'd spent all that
he had. He'd wasted it all away, and he had nothing. There he
was working, but not satisfied. There's only one who can satisfy.
Only one who can justify. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm
36. Turn to a few scriptures with
me over in Psalm. Look with verse 7. How excellent
is thy lovingkindness, O God. Therefore the children of men
put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly
satisfied with the fatness of thy house, and thou shalt make
them drink of the river of thy pleasures." Abundantly satisfied. Look at just a few pages over,
chapter 65, Psalm 65. Look at verse 4. Psalm 65, Blessed
is the man whom thou choosest. It calls us to approach unto
thee, that he may dwell in thy courts. We shall be satisfied
with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. Satisfied
with the goodness of thy house. And just like the prodigal, just
like that prodigal son. We need to be mindful. We're
the hungry ones. He's the one with the bread. Our Father, He's
the one with the bread. We're not to forget who and what
we are. Poor and needy sinners. And don't
forget where and who the bread comes from. It comes from our
Father. Hearken diligently unto me. Eat
that which is good. Let your soul delight itself
in fatness were to feed on Christ and him alone. Verse 3, incline
your ear, come unto me. Here and your soul shall live,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure
mercies of David. These are the words of the Father
to his children. He says, incline your ear. Listen
to me. We say that to our kids all the
time, don't we? Would you just listen to me?
That's good instruction for us, isn't it? We need to listen to
Him. Faith cometh by hearing. Hearing
by the Word of God. He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear. And come unto me. Come unto me. Matthew 11, 28. Come unto me,
all ye that are heavy laden. and I'll give you rest. John
6.37, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and to him
that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. We're to flee
to Christ, flee to him, not to religion, not to the works of
the law, not to any other refuge. We're to listen and to come to
him. And listen, those who listen,
Those who listen, those who come to Christ, we read here, He said,
your soul shall live. Your soul shall live eternally
with Christ. Your soul shall live. And He
says, I will make an everlasting covenant with you. It's a covenant
of grace, even the sure mercies of David. Turn to 2 Samuel chapter
23. Although my house be not so with
God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things, and sure,
for this is all my salvation and all my desire, although he
make it not to grow." The covenant, it's the covenant that speaks
of Christ, our Redeemer. Anything else, anything else
is labor that cannot satisfy, it will not satisfy. Now back
to our text here in Isaiah. Look at verse four. Behold, I've
given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander
to the people. I've given him a witness, a witness. Over in Revelations 1.5, we read
him from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first
begotten of the dead, the prince of the king of the earth. and
to him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood."
He's a witness. He is the faithful witness. I've
given him for a witness. I've given him as a leader. The Lord Jesus Christ leads his
people. Turn to Mark chapter 10. Mark 10. Look at verse 32 of Mark 10. And they were in the way going
up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went before them. And they were amazed,
and as they followed, they were afraid. And He took again the
twelve and began to tell them the things that should happen
unto them. He went before them. He led them. We read that He
went before the people. And back in the Psalms, Psalm
23, That great shepherd of the sheep that leads his sheep, he
leads us beside the still waters. He leads us in paths of righteousness. He leads his people. He's a witness,
he's a leader, and then he's a commander. A commander is one
who gives direction, who's in charge of things. Our God's sovereign. This speaks of his sovereignty. He's king of kings and he's lord
of lords. Back to our text. Verse 5, 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. Behold, thou shalt call. Notice
the certainty there. Thou shalt call. There's no wiggle
room there, is there? Thou shalt call, not should call,
not might call, thou shalt call. Thou shalt call a nation that
thou knowest not. Over in Romans chapter 9, Romans
9, turn there with me, Romans 9 verse 6. He says, Not as though the word
of God had taken none effect, for they are not all Israel which
are of Israel. He is going to save his people,
Jew, Gentile, out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue. He
has got a people and he is going to save them. Nations that knew
thee not shall run to thee. When we learn of the Lord, if
he is pleased to teach us of him and our miserable condition
There's no other refuge. We'll run to him. There's no
other resting place. We'll say just like Peter did.
Simon Peter answered over in John chapter six. He said, Lord,
to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. We'll run to him and to him alone. We'll flee to him
just like that manslayer back in the Old Testament to the city
of refuge, that place of safety. There's no other place. There's
no other place to him. no other place to go. We run
to him because of the Lord our God. For thy people shall be
made willing in the day of thy power. We run to him as a result
of his love and mercy and his grace towards sinners. But we
cannot run to him apart from God. He must draw us. John 6, 44, no man can come unto
me except the Father which sent me draw him. And I'll raise him
up in the last day. Read on. And for the Holy One
of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ, our surety, our Savior, he hath
glorified thee. Turn to another scripture. Turn
to John chapter 17. These words speak Jesus and lifted
up His eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify
Thy Son. Glorify Thy Son that Thy Son
also may glorify Thee. As Thou hast given Him power
over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many
as Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I have finished the work which thou hast given me to do.
And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with
the glory which I had with thee before the world was." Back to
our text. Verse 6, seek ye the Lord while
he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is
near. What are we told? You seek the
Lord. Seek him. Just like that woman
with the issue of blood over in Luke 8. Turn there with me.
Luke chapter 8. You know this account, but let's
read it here together. Luke chapter 8, beginning verse
44, 43. In with verse 43, and a woman
having an issue of blood, 12 years, she spent all her living
upon physicians, neither could be healed of any. She had spent
all she had for nothing, all for naught. But look, verse 44.
came behind him and touched the border of his garment, and immediately
her issue of blood was astonished. And Jesus said, Who touched me?
When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master,
the multitudes, they thronged thee and pressed thee, and you
say, Who touched me? All these people around? Jesus
said, Somebody hath touched me, for I perceived that virtue was
gone out of me. And when the woman saw that she
was not hid, she came trembling and falling down before him.
And she declared unto him before all the people for what cause
she had touched him and how she was healed immediately. And he
said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort. Thy faith hath
made thee whole. Go in peace. Seek the Lord, trembling,
falling down before him. But this woman, she sought the
Lord and he healed her. That leper over in Luke chapter
4 came to pass. I'll just read
this. It came to pass when he was in a certain city, behold,
a man full of leprosy, who seeing Jesus, fell on his face and besought
him saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And
he put forth his hand and he touched him saying, I will be
thou clean." And immediately that leprosy departed from him.
Look with me at one more passage here. Matthew 15. I was looking at this last night
on this topic of seeking the Lord. This woman here, she sought
the Lord, not for herself, but for her daughter. Look at it
here. Matthew chapter 15. Look at verse
21. Jesus went thence and departed
unto the coast of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan
came out of the same coast and cried unto him, saying, Have
mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David. My daughter is grievously
vexed with the devil. And he answered her not a word.
And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away, for
she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am
not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then
came she, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It
is not meat to take the children's bread. and cast it to the dogs. And she said, Truth, that's the
truth. That's the truth. I'm not worthy.
I'm not worthy, Lord. Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs
which fall from their master's table. And Jesus answered and
said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee,
even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole
that very hour. She sought the Lord. She sought
the Lord for her daughter. Over in the Old Testament, over
in Ezra, chapter 8, I'll read this to you. You can turn there.
Read this later. Ezra 8, verse 21. Ezra says, I proclaimed a
fast at the river of Haithah that we might afflict ourselves
before our God to seek of Him a right way for us We desire
to know Him. We desire to know a right way
for us. But He also says a right way
for us and a right way for our little ones. And for all our
substance. All that we seek Him. That we
seek Him for ourselves. Seek to know Him. I desire to
know Him. I desire to know Him more. I
desire my children. Don't we desire our little ones?
that they might know him, that they might know the Savior. Turn
back to our text. We'll close here. He says, Seek
ye the Lord while he may be found. Seek him, call upon him while
he's near. And then verse 7. Let the wicked
forsake his way. You know, there's a way that
seems right under man. We know the end of that, don't
we? But it says, seek his way. Not our way, seek his way. And the unrighteous man, his
thoughts, my thoughts are not your thoughts. And let him return
unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him. And to our God,
for he will abundantly pardon. The very first verse, Ho, everyone
that thirsteth. Everyone that thirsteth, come
to the waters. Are you thirsty? Are you poor
and needy? Turn from your way. Turn from
your thoughts. Turn to the Lord. Turn to the
Lord Jesus Christ. For we read here, He will have
mercy and He will abundantly pardon. May God bless His Word.